More than 160,000 participants are taking up the 2014 Health Challenge

The adventure is in full swing until April 11!

MONTREAL, March 24, 2014 /CNW Telbec/ - The 5/30 Health and Wellness Challenge, currently underway across the province, is a big hit yet again! On March 1, 160,234 individuals and 459 municipalities and local communities joined this vast province-wide health movement. During the six-week campaign, participants are taking action to improve their lifestyle. Whether they do so alone, as a family, or as a team, all participants aim to reach the following three goals:

• Eat at least 5 servings of fruit and vegetables every day (5 Goal)
• Get active for at least 30 minutes a day (30 Goal)
• Sleep better for increased wellness in life (Wellness Goal)

"I'm happy to take up the Health Challenge for a third year and I'd like to tell everyone who's taking part to keep up the good work!" said spokesperson Mélanie Maynard. "On March 1, I started adopting new habits and whenever I achieve a goal, I put a sticker in my agenda. It may not seem like much, but it's kept me motivated! I've made it through the first three weeks of the campaign and nothing's going to stop me now!" 

Free support for participants!
To help them succeed, participants get free support, like the IGA Passport and motivational emails. New this year, the Health Challenge team is also offering a 6-Week Program that includes mini-challenges to help participants sleep better, a meal plan loaded with fruit and vegetables, a walking program, and a downloadable audio file featuring Mélanie Maynard!

Year-round support can be found at HealthChallenge.ca, a publicly accessible website that is overflowing with tips, information, and support tools! Participants are also invited to join inspiring discussions on the Health Challenge's Facebook page (facebook.com/defisante), or share tips on how they are reaching their 5, 30 and Wellness goals. The page already has close to 30,000 likes.

All Health Challenge participants are entered to win one of many draw prizes, including $5,000 of groceries courtesy of IGA and the Desjardins Family Prize, $5,000 in customized financial products from Desjardins.

A Health Challenge that touches the entire province!
With the Health Challenge for Municipalities and Families, local communities and municipalities throughout Quebec can also take part in the campaign. This year has seen a number of indoor and outdoor public activities, including health conferences hosted by a nutritionist, learn-to-snowshoe outings, public swims, public skates with entertainment, pick-up hockey tournaments, free sporting equipment rentals, Zumba classes, and much more! To learn more, visit the Municipalities section of HealthChallenge.ca.

Fact: Close to 850 organizations—associations, companies, and municipalities—requested material to promote the campaign and healthy living among their employees.

"We'd like to thank the many organizations, municipalities, and leaders who joined this year's health movement. With their support, we can use the Health Challenge to encourage healthy living among the general public!" said Guy Desrosiers, CEO at Capsana, the organization behind the Health Challenge.

Facts and figures

• 160,234 participants registered this year. A slight increase over the number of people who took part last year (159,311).
• 73,543 of those took up the Health Challenge with their families.
• 3,033 teams took part, representing more than 12,500 individuals.
• The majority of participants (72%) are women.
• 459 municipalities and local communities are taking part, a record for the campaign's Health Challenge for Municipalities and Families. This represents a 27% increase over the number of registered municipalities and local communities that took part last year.

About the 5/30 Health and Wellness Challenge
Launched in 2005, the Health Challenge is an annual public health campaign that invites Quebecers to improve their lifestyle habits. The campaign has since surpassed the million mark in registrations. In 2014, it won two DUX Awards in the Project and Public's Choice categories. The Health Challenge, a Capsana initiative, is made possible through the assistance and financial support of Québec en Forme and through partnerships with Quebec's Directions de santé publique, Agences de la santé et des services sociaux, and the Quebec government. The Health Challenge is produced in collaboration with IGA, Desjardins, Danone, Leclerc, Oasis, and Evian.

Since 2011, the Health Challenge for Municipalities and Families has encouraged healthy lifestyle choices among children by engaging and supporting municipalities, local communities, and Quebec families. It wouldn't be possible without the Fédération québécoise des municipalités, the Réseau québécois de villes et villages en santé, and the Union of Quebec Municipalities (UQM). To learn more, visit HealthChallenge.ca.

About Capsana
Capsana is a social enterprise owned by the Hôpital Maisonneuve-Rosemont Foundation, the ÉPIC Foundation, and the Fondation PSI, which is associated with the Montreal Heart Institute. Its mission is to help individuals take an active role in their health. Founded in 1988 under the name ACTI-MENU, Capsana is dedicated exclusively to the promotion of health and healthy lifestyles, as well as the prevention and management of chronic diseases.

Capsana is behind well-known social campaigns such as the 5/30 Health and Wellness Challenge, the Quit to Win! Challenge, and Smoke-Free Family, which are geared toward the general public, municipalities, and families. It also implements health-promotion programs in the workplace and produces publications and other patient information tools for the clinical setting. The organization obtained the Healthy Enterprise – Elite certification from the Bureau de normalisation du Québec (Quebec Standards Bureau). To learn more, visit www.capsana.ca.

SOURCE: Capsana

Marie Huot, Communication Advisor, Tel.: [phone], ext. 255, [email protected]; For additional information or interviews with our spokespeople Mélanie Maynard and Dr. Johanne Blais, please contact: Marie-Noël Phaneuf, Annexe Communications, Tel.: [phone], ext. 211, Cell: 514 553-2570, [email protected]