November 2022

No matter who you are or where you live, there’s a hike within reach and a world of benefits to tap into. Many of us think hiking has to take place in the mountains by a beautiful lake or in a gorgeous meadow filled with wildflowers. And many people picture a bearded mountain man in a flannel shirt who’s carrying an enormous pack — with a tin cup and some climbing rope dangling off the back. You certainly can hike in the mountains, and you can be a bearded “mountain man” sporting a flannel shirt. But that’s a very narrow description of hiking. Really, a hike is just a long walk, and it can happen anywhere — from mountain trails to paths through your own neighborhood. We’re all hiking a lot more than we think. And we can do it in a lot more places than we think.

The recent White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health renewed national attention and inspired action to end hunger and reduce the prevalence of chronic disease in the United States by 2030. Realizing these goals requires a far-reaching, cross-sector mobilization of efforts: what the National Strategy on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health refers to as “a whole-of-government and whole-of-America approach” to these challenges. That charge acknowledges that the way forward is found across all sectors of society and through organizations collectively working to foster equity and eliminate disparities — especially in the areas of hunger, nutrition, physical activity, and chronic disease.

This post is part of Healthy People 2020 in Review, a blog series highlighting how organizations across the nation are addressing social determinants of health — and how their efforts have helped us make progress toward Healthy People goals and objectives. The post describes how Wilmington Area Rebuilding Ministry, a Healthy People 2030 Champion, contributed to progress toward Healthy People 2020 objectives — as well as Healthy People 2030 objectives under the social determinants of health domain Neighborhood and Built Environment.