DECATUR - They may not have walked 500 miles and then walked 500 more, but participants in this year's Women On the Move Across the Nation, or WOMAN, Challenge were closing in.

The eight-week walking and physical activity challenge encouraged women to get 10,000 steps or 30 minutes of physical activity each day. Illinois was one of the top five states.;for participation with 964 women enrolled.

"Physical activity is one of the best ways to keep healthy," said Michelle Hoersch, regional women's health coordinator for the Office on Women's Health for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. "Obesity is the key leading indicator for who is going to develop a chronic disease. Activity increases your overall health, resistance and immunity."

The program is in its third year, with the first two years being only regionally focused around the Great Lakes states. The challenge began on Mothers' Day during National Women's Health week and ended July 8. Almost half of the program's 18,000 participants received pedometers to monitor their steps, which were logged in through the Internet.

Hoersch, who also participated in the challenge, said she received a "tremendous" amount of positive feedback from the women walkers.

"So many people wanted to continue even after the program ended," she said. "What I was really interested to see is how many people increased their steps over time; that was success to me."

Dr. Wanda Jones, deputy assistant secretary for health for the Department of Health and Human Services and director of the Office on Women's Health, said the Office on Women's Health continues to encourage women to stay active and healthy, including not smoking, receiving preventative screenings, healthy eating and practicing safety, like wearing a seatbelt.

"There were over 2,000 women who met or exceeded their beginning goal. This does reflect that it's very difficult to change a behavior or even sustain it," she said. "We like to think that everyone will get to their goal, but the reality is that life gets in the way. But this is in excess of what we expected."

Jones said the Office of Women's Health will be striving to continue the program.

"We will definitely be looking at whether we can do it again, and we might try to make it more adaptable for all women," she said. "We're looking at what we've learned and will try to improve the program if we're able to do it next year. We were pleased overall. With Illinois among the top five, about 400 women in Illinois met their goals. That's pretty remarkable; we're very proud of Illinois."

Courtney Klemm can be reached at cklemm@herald-review.com or 421-6968.