Round Rock Participates In 'It's Time Texas Community Challenge'

ROUND ROCK, TEXAS — Round Rock Mayor Craig Morgan has pledged to help Round Rock residents make healthier lifestyle choices by participating in the 2019 Community Challenge hosted by nonprofit It's Time Texas.

Organized by the nonprofit It's Time Texas, the namesake event It’s Time Texas Community Challenge aims to make healthier lifestyles accessible to residents. The competition runs through March 3, encouraging people to eat healthier, get physically active, reduce stress and take overall steps toward improving their healthy.

The perils of unhealthy lifestyles are wide-ranging, officials noted. Chronic diseases that are otherwise eminently preventable have become epidemics, threatening to bankrupt the state and erode quality of life in Texas, officials said. As officials put it: "The declining health of Texans is the result of a highly complex, wide-sweeping societal crisis that requires urgent, bold, and innovative action."

But there's hope.

“By working together at the individual and community levels, we aim to mobilize people to make significant changes at all levels of our society to influence the extent to which people have access to and opportunities to live healthier lives,” Baker Harrell, Ph.D., It’s Time Texas founder & CEO, said in a prepared statement. “At 33 percent, Texas has the 14th highest adult obesity rate in the nation. Together, we are working to reduce obesity rates and related chronic disease for all Texans and your involvement in the Community Challenge will make this possible in communities across the state.”

Last year's version of the It’s Time Texas Community Challenge impacted more than 1.6 million Texans, drawing participation from residents in 209 Texas communities, organizers said. The Community Challenge inspired more than 3.6 million minutes of physical activity across our state, according to officials.

Joining the It’s Time Texas Community Challenge is free and open to everyone. Individuals, mayors, schools and school districts, employers, and businesses can earn points on behalf of their communities for making healthy choices, such as taking the stairs instead of the elevator, or participating in a group workout.

“Because of the It’s Time Texas Community Challenge, I was motivated to start a weekly exercise regime,” San Antonio resident Marva Gonzales observed. “I was even motivated to try out new exercise classes at my gym. Also, if I ever do not feel like exercising, I will remember the Challenge and then get inspired to do at least a two-mile walk!”

The competition is tracked and measured via Healthy Selfies #CommunityChallenge and submissions to the Community Challenge website. The website’s leaderboard will be regularly updated with new submissions and points earned, firing up a competitive spirit in communities across Texas. At the end of the eight weeks, the winning community and school district in each size category will receive funds to put towards future health-related projects. Individuals will also be eligible for prize giveaways throughout the challenge.

Participants’ reasons for joining the Community Challenge range from getting in shape for an upcoming trip, to being able to keep up with family and kids, to just needing an extra kick of motivation to start the new year on a healthy foot.

“I am doing it for me and for my community," a resident of Brownsville, Melissa Cervantes, said. "Most importantly, I am doing this for my children. I want to be around as long as I can to enjoy them and the families they start and grow,”the two-year participant added. "I am demonstrating to my family and children that living a healthy lifestyle is what our bodies deserve. I am grateful that I can now read a book to my 3-year-old son without running out of breath. If you are capable of walking, running, etc., do it, because there are so many who wish they could, but cannot. Our capable body is a blessing.”

Find out more about the 2019 It’s Time Texas Community Challenge here.

About It’s Time Texas

It’s Time Texas is the nonprofit that champions, convenes, and catalyzes the movement for a healthier Texas by making healthy lifestyles more accessible to all Texans. Our programs and partnerships empower Texans to lead healthier lives, build healthier communities, and contribute to a healthier state. It’s Time Texas mobilizes and equips individuals, businesses, and institutions to take proven actions that result in significantly healthier people, healthier places (including homes, schools, and employers), healthier products and services, and healthier policies. Learn more at www.itstimetexas.org, like us on Facebook @ItsTimeTX and follow along on Twitter @ITSTIME.

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>>> Photo of Round Rock Mayor Craig Morgan provided by City of Round Rock