Improving one's health can be as easy as taking one step at a time by with an exercise program to get the body physically active.

If you aren't already walking, a good time to start is on Saturday, March 18 when B-HIP, (the Ballard Health Improvement Project) meets at Swedish Medical Center on Tallman Avenue. Family physicians in Ballard are partnering with Swedish Medical Center and the Ballard Rotary on the project. The three groups are hoping to further develop B-HIP's community based cardiovascular risk reduction program in Ballard and Northwest Seattle. The program was started two years ago to promote the benefits of walking.

B-HIP encourages people to walk more and be more active in their everyday lives to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease.

Participants will go on a two to four mile walk, preceded by a talk about one aspect of health. The next topic is "Sleep and the Connection to Health."

"Many people are not aware of how sleep affects health and visa versa," said Shawn H.D. West, MD, Chief of Family Medicine at the Swedish Medical Center's Ballard campus.

West says some people have sleep apnea which causes them to stop breathing throughout the night. This can be a strain on the heart and cause increased blood pressure.

Sleeping problems are just one of the issues B-HIP events have addressed. Other topics have included: how to select the right shoe for walking; blood pressure; healthy diets; and how to read food labels.

This year B-HIP has received a grant from Swedish Medical Center's Swedish Foundation to hire a part-time staff person to further advance the program.

"We are hoping to expand it to something bigger with more impact. We would like to develop a community-based program that increases awareness of health issues and actively engage residents in improving health," said West.

For the year 2006, B-HIP will focus on risk assessment, physical activity and education interventions, mail based intervention with support and workplace intervention.

Screening and risk assessment will be done in community settings. Risk factors include: family history of heart disease; smoking tobacco exposure; obesity; inactivity; hypertension; hyperlipidemia; and Type 2 Diabetes.

Physical activity and education programs will be designed to reduce the disease risk. "Ultimately the goal is to reduce cardiovascular events, problems of heart attack and stroke, the leading cause of death in both men and women in this country," said West.

The standard advice is for people to exercise most days of the week for 30 minutes, through walking, running, bicycling or some of form of aerobic type activity.

West said B-HIP will encourage people to get out and be active by offering ideas and programs that are practical that will work for them individually.

B-HIP is still a pilot project funded largely by grants and local business' monetary and in-kind contributions. More proposals are planned to help continue and expand the program. It could eventually serve as a model for other neighborhoods in the city.

"Humans are not designed to sit all day long," said West.

We want people to be more involved in their health and proactive in preventing heart disease," he said.

The next B-HIP event on March 18 starts at 8:30 a.m. with registration and health screening (body mass index and blood pressure screening done at no cost), a discussion at 8:30 a.m., and the walk at 10 a.m.

Call 386-2502 to register.