Health is a delicate thing. One day you have it, the next day you don’t. But there are many things we can do to try to hold on to it as long as we can (although changing bad habits is notoriously difficult, more on that another day). I am an eager twitterer and on twitter I follow the documentary film maker Michael Moore (@MMFlint), not because I thought he would have interesting things to say about health informatics, but because I think he’s an interesting person. To my surprise, he turned out to be a great health inspiration!

Michael Moore twittered about the rise of anti-depressant medication in the US and was wondering why everyone was feeling so bad. He got a reply from someone saying if people just went for a walk everyday they would feel better and not need so much medication. Now, the US may not be known for encouraging walking, so Mike took this as a challenge, and has started to go for a walk EVERY DAY. Here’s a storify link to how it all got started: http://storify.com/lhighfill/miketakesawalk He also twitters about it and encourages everyone to walk with him, look up #miketakesawalk #Iwalkwithmike

This has turned into quite a movement, and it’s a real inspiration to me! Living healthier doesn’t have to be that hard. And social media can both motivate and trigger healthier behavior. So, tonight I’m going to go for a walk – are you with me?