AUBURN - On average, 2,000 steps adds up to around one mile, not all that far to move in the course of any given day, all things considered.

But it was those steps that the Auburn YMCA and YMCAs all across the country asked people to stop and consider over the past few weeks as the YMCA organization took part in the America On The Move, a national organization that encourages people to take “steps” towards a healthier life. During the week- long endeavor, members of the Y were asked to wear pedometers and keep track of the number of steps they took during a day and keep a running tally over the entire week

“It is a way to encourage people to be more active,” said Steve Komenacky YMCA fitness director. “I think if people are more aware of how many steps they take during a day it helps to make them more aware of how active they really are.”

This is the second year that the YMCA has participated in the program. Last year, Komenacky said it was well received and this year was right on pace with where things stood last year.

“We probably had 50 or so people with pedometers last year,” Komenacky said. “We probably had about the same again this year. Last year, we got the pre-school kids involved too for the week. We're going to wait until spring to do something with them this year, but I think we've had a good response to this so far.”

Participation in the program came in many forms, whether it was taking a walk or incorporating the step count into the regular activities of day to day life.

“People could walk the track or use the treadmills and things like that,” Komenacky said. “Or they could keep count while they were playing racquetball or something like that. It doesn't really matter how anyone did this, the whole concept here was just to get people up and moving and make them more aware and get them thinking more about what they can do to live a healthier life.”

While Komenacky said the YMCA is still making final tallies, nationally, a goal of five billion steps had been set by the America On The Move program.

“We probably had about eight million steps last year,” Komenacky said. “I think we probably had about the same this year.”

Participation in America On The Move is just one aspect of a bigger program going on in Ymcas across the country. For the past two years, the YMCA has been stressing a new initiative called Activate America. The goal of Activate America is to directly address the issue of obesity in this country and encourage people to look at the problem and finds ways they can take better care of themselves and lead healthier lifestyles.

“It is to encourage exercise,” Komenacky said. “But it is also again something to encourage people to look at their lives and see what they can do to make it healthier. There is an obesity problem in this country and it is something people have to look at not only in the things they do but also the way they think about their lifestyle and what they eat and how they take care of themselves.”

Steps towards a healthier lifestyle can begin with the little things, things that ultimately can make a world of difference.

“It can be anything,” Komenacky said. “Taking the stairs instead of the elevator, parking further away and walking a little further to get in the store, literally anything can help get people started towards living a healthier life.”

Activate America and America On The Move tied in quite well together, in an effort to convey the same overall message.

“By encouraging people to think about the number of steps they take I think it gets them thinking more about the other things they do during the day,” Komenacky said. “When you think 2,000 steps is only about a mile I think it makes people think 'Wow I didn't do much today.' So the hope is that helps get people thinking more about moving and exercise. Part of Activate America is encouraging people to eat 100 less calories a day and taking steps like that to eat healthier and do more and in general live healthier.”

While America On The Move has concluded fro the year, with Activate America, the hope that this is just the beginning of a much larger movement.

“We hope that America On The Move was just the beginning,” Komenacky said. “The main goal is to get people more involved and get people to start living a more healthy lifestyle. We hope this helps to get peoples' attention and that they will go out and do more, even if it is just a little bit a week and that people will see what a difference that can make.”

For more information on Activate America visit www.ymca.net/activateamerica