Seventh Annual National Women’s Health & Fitness Day
to be held September 24, 2008

On Wednesday, September 24, 2008, an estimated 40,000 to 50,000 women of all ages will participate in local health and fitness events at hundreds of community locations across the country as part of the Seventh Annual National Women’s Health & Fitness Daysm. This new event, the first of its kind, will always be held the last Wednesday in September as part of National Women’s Health & Fitness Week celebrations throughout the United States.

Organized as a public/private good health partnership by the Health Information Resource Center (HIRC)sm, National Women’s Health & Fitness Day will offer fitness and health events for women at community locations that include hospitals, health clubs, park and recreation departments, health departments, schools, retirement communities, houses of worship, senior centers, and others.

Local women’s events held on Wednesday, September 24, 2008 will include fitness walks, exercise demonstrations, health fairs and health information workshops. Most local events will include an exercise or physical activity component, as well as educational information about women’s health and fitness.

“Our goal for this national event is to encourage women to take control of their health: to learn the facts they need to make smart health choices, and to make time for regular physical activity,” adds Patricia Henze, Executive Director of the Health Information Resource Centersm, organizer of the event. Henze adds, “Women’s Health & Fitness Day is also designed to showcase the many women’s health resources available through the local organizations that will host events on Wednesday, September 24, 2008.”

Organizations interested in hosting a National Women’s Health & Fitness Day event must register by paying a $29.95 event registration fee (plus shipping). Registered organizations will receive a valuable Women’s Health & Fitness Day event manual and sample event incentive items — T-shirt, balloons, posters, etc. The event manual is an easy-to-use guide with all of the information needed to host a successful event — activity suggestions, posters, press releases, copyright-free women’s health reproducible masters for distribution, and more.

To help promote the Seventh year’s event, the HIRC is sponsoring a Women’s Health & Fitness Day Theme Contest. Women ages 18 and older are encouraged to submit a short phrase or sentence that reinforces the importance of health and fitness for women. The contest deadline is Friday, June 27, 2008, and women may submit post cards or letters to: 2008 Women’s Health & Fitness Day Theme Contest, P.O. Box 883, Libertyville, IL 60048. Entries may also be sent by fax to 847-816-8662, or by e-mail: info@fitnessday.com. A cash prize will be awarded to the winner. More details on the contest can be found on the official Women’s Health & Fitness Day Web site: www.fitnessday.com.

The Health Information Resource Center (HIRC)sm, organizer of this event, is a national clearinghouse for consumer health information professionals. In addition to the Women’s Health & Fitness Day event, other HIRC programs include Family Health & Fitness Day USA, always held on the last Saturday in September; the annual National Health Information Awards, the nation’s largest awards programs for consumer health information and resources; the World Wide Web Health Awards; the Consumer Health Publishers Association and the Online Health Association and the www.healthprograms.com Web site for consumer health information professionals.

For more information on Women’s Health & Fitness Day, please contact Tina Godin, program manager, at 1-800-828-8225, weekdays 8-6 Central time. E-mail: info@fitnessday.com

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