Jersey Day

Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre staff showed off their favourite team colour on Friday, all in the name of promoting an active lifestyle.

Leafs, Habs, Vikings or Packers, fans of all teams stood side by side in support of the National Jersey day effort, a chance to spark conversation about the region’s fitness levels, which aren’t what they should be, said hospital spokeswoman Sarah Chow.

“As a hospital, we’re trying to promote being physically active together. Physical activity is a means of preventing chronic disease and that’s really important for us to be about,” Chow said.

As a region, Thunder Bay can do better, but it’s not as difficult as many might think.

“We are not active enough. We could be way more active. The physical activity guidelines say we should get about 150 minutes of physical activity a week. And that can be accumulated in about 10-minute bouts. But we’re not as active as we could be here,” she said.

“Sometimes I think the cold weather has a lot to do with it, but there are ways of getting around that. We can walk around inside here at Thunder Bay Regional.”

Local malls, such as Intercity Shopping Centre and Victoriaville, also offer lengthy indoor walking areas for those who don’t want to expose themselves to the region’s harsh winter elements.

Chow, dressed in a replica Clay Matthews Green Bay Packers jersey, estimated about 100 employees took part in the one-day campaign.