By Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone

(The opinions and views expressed in the commentaries and letters to the Editor of The Somerville Times belong solely to the authors and do not reflect the views or opinions of The Somerville Times, its staff or publishers)

Even though we got snow earlier this week, it is springtime here in Somerville. That means the Mayor’s Wellness Challenge is right around the corner. The official kickoff is April 24 at the Somerville High School concourse, but I always try to emphasize that this shouldn’t be like a New Year’s resolution where you buy a gym membership you forget to use or where you eat a few more vegetables for a couple of weeks. We’re trying to take advantage of the return of pleasant weather to get people living more active, healthier lives. Not for nothing, we’ve built a city that ranks 7th in the nation in walkability and 4th in bike commuting. We’ve got farmers’ markets running year round and urban agriculture initiatives designed to put more produce on your table. We’ve expanded rec programs for kids and adults, and built or upgraded parks and playgrounds all around the city. We’re doing everything we can to make Somerville a place where you can live a healthy, active life.

The Wellness Challenge builds on that by helping you develop an activity routine you can stick with. Run more of your errands on foot. Eat a little bit healthier. Plan to get out and do something active on the weekend. You don’t have to run a marathon, just figure out what works for you. We actually have some selfish reasons for wanting a healthier, more active population. People who get out to do something active spend more time, and eventually money, in their local business community. You’re more likely to try that restaurant you bike past every day or to stop into the store you always see on your walks, and that’s money that cycles through our local economy. On top of that, a city where people are out and about is safer. Better health has been shown to increase your success in your job, which means maybe you’re more likely to do a home improvement project or donate to a local cause. Healthier kids do better in school, which sets them up for more successful lives in which they hopefully give back to the community where they got such a great start. Healthy communities come loaded with beneficial side effects.

In our city we also have the benefit of Shape Up Somerville, which focuses on our community health all year round. I highly recommend giving Shape Up a Facebook follow. They’re constantly putting out information about local events and giving healthy living tips. It’s information you can actually use. Of particular use connected with the Wellness Challenge is what they call the 95210 daily checklist. The numbers stand for things that, if you do them every day, you’ll find yourself in a healthier place.

The 9 is for getting 7-9 hours of sleep a night. I know people feel like there’s never enough time in the day and sometimes they’re right, but people who get a good night’s sleep generally get more done because they’re not battling exhaustion. This is especially true for kids. My boys don’t like hearing that they need to get to bed at a decent hour, but active, growing kids need sleep.

The 5 is for five servings of fruits and vegetables per day. A lot of people don’t come close to that. One of the keys is making sure you’re eating produce with each meal and trying to work it in as a snack. Some fruit with your breakfast, maybe a side salad instead of fries at lunch, some carrots or celery sticks for a snack, that all adds up. Another tip from Shape Up is that kids eat more fruits and vegetables if they have more family meals. The meal you eat when everybody gathers around the table together tends to be healthier than what people consume when everybody grabs something separate. Turns out sitting down for a family dinner comes with some health benefits. It’s a better planned meal. The same logic applies to those of you out there with roommates or for empty nesters. You don’t skimp on the veggies so much when you sit down with others.

The 2 stands for no more than two hours or recreational screen time per day. That means television, gaming and generally Internet surfing. I know that’s a tough one. There’s a limitless electronic fix out there, but that’s passive time as opposed to active time. This feeds into the 1, which is getting one hour or more of physical activity. It could be something as simple as walking. If you can build physical activity into your work commute or daily errands, that’s great. Maybe you wake up early and run. Maybe you swim at lunch time. Maybe you take yoga in the evenings. You can mix and match in whatever way works for you, but make sure you get that hour of active time before you watch that show you recorded or before you clear the next level of the latest video game.

Finally, the 0 is for zero sugary drinks. Sugar water—this includes a lot products that call themselves juice drinks—is responsible for a lot of the empty calories we put into our bodies. The average American consumes 130 pounds of sugar per year. The American Heart Association recommends eating no more than 9.5 teaspoons of sugar a day. That’s less than one can of soda. The average adult ingests 22 teaspoons of sugar per day. The average kid takes in 32 teaspoons of sugar per day. Sugary drinks are the leading culprit in that. The average American drinks 53 gallons of soft drinks per year. Refined sugar is linked to obesity, hypertension, diabetes, acne, depression, fatigue and stiffening of the arteries. It’s a good habit to break if you’ve got it and one to make sure your kids don’t start.

You don’t need to wait for the Wellness Challenge to do that daily 95210 checklist, though make sure to do the Wellness Challenge too because it’s fun. You don’t have to be a taskmaster about it or beat yourself up for a 61503 day. It happens. The idea is to build healthier routines into your life so that healthy is your norm. We take the old saying, “if you don’t have your health you don’t have anything,” to heart. We’ve tried to make Somerville a place where it’s easier to live healthy so that you can enjoy all the other things in life that come after you’ve got your health.

The 2016 Mayor’s Wellness Challenge starts April 24th with the annual 5k Walk/Run Road Race. For more information on the race, visit www.somervillema.gov. For more details on the Challenge, watch for updates later this spring on www.facebook.com/shapeupsomerville.