Tupelo AKA’s Go Red For Heart Health

TUPELO, Miss. (WCBI) – A Tupelo sorority is taking physical fitness and proper diet seriously this weekend.

There was an intense workout a seminar on how to eat healthier, and blood pressure screenings. Saturday members of the Sigma Omega chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority put on the Pink goes Red Community event at Tender Care daycare.

Angela Walker is a registered nurse and a member of the sorority.

“Every year Alpha Kappa Alpha sets aside this day to support the women’s heart healthy initiative and we have an event. We have an exercise regime that we do. We also have healthy snacks. And we also give out heart healthy information to the community that comes out to support our event,” said Walker.

Walker says the statistics are alarming.

“Every day one in three women that die is because of heart disease. And that is very dear to my heart also the members of Alpha Kappa Alpha. So I try to educate women in our community as well as worldwide about the importance of having our heart healthy diet and just being healthy in general,” said Walker.

Tupelo fitness instructor George Stone was in charge of the exercise.

“I was telling the ladies in there that you need at least about 20-minutes two times of week of working out to get started. Walking, you don’t have to do anything vigorous you just walk and get your body moving,” said  Stone

Stone says after you are used to exercising, you should increase.

“Get to the point where you’re at three to five times a week and just 20 to 40 minutes of exercise is really good for a person,” said Stone.

Dr. Sylvia Blanchard is a nurse practicioner who briefed those in attendence about the health advantages of good diet and exercise.

“Well I basically just went over the causes and the risk factors for heart disease. And like I said I coverd mainly those factors that affect African Americans. And some of the main factors are poor diet, high fat diets, lack of activity, obesity, diabetes and smoking,”said Blanchard.

Blanchard says just because some food is healthy, doesn’t mean it tastes bad.

“Baked food, vegetables can taste really good. If you take your imagine you can make any thing taste better. So no it tastes good,” said Blanchard.

Of course the old saying goes, an apple a day, keeps the doctor away.