{"id":17952,"date":"2026-04-10T11:31:28","date_gmt":"2026-04-10T15:31:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/?page_id=17952"},"modified":"2026-04-10T11:35:43","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T15:35:43","slug":"the-rappahannock-rapidan-health-district-celebrates-physical-wellness-month-in-april","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/public-relations-contacts\/2026-regional-news-releases\/the-rappahannock-rapidan-health-district-celebrates-physical-wellness-month-in-april\/","title":{"rendered":"The Rappahannock-Rapidan Health District Celebrates Physical Wellness Month in April"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>April 10, 2026<br \/>\n<strong>Media Contact:<\/strong> Dr. Zelalem Attlee, <a href=\"mailto:Zelalem.Attlee@vdh.virginia.gov\">Zelalem.Attlee@vdh.virginia.gov<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>The Rappahannock-Rapidan Health District Celebrates Physical Wellness Month in April<br \/>\n<\/strong><em>Take Steps to Be Your Healthiest Self.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>WARRENTON, Va. \u2013 Spring has sprung and Physical Wellness Month offers the opportunity to plant seeds for better health. The Rappahannock-Rapidan Health Department encourages residents to prioritize their health in April.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPhysical wellness is one of the most important investments we can make in ourselves and our communities,\u201d said Rappahannock-Rapidan Health District Director J. Carr, M.D. \u201cThis month, I encourage everyone across our district to take simple, meaningful steps, whether it\u2019s walking more, staying active, or making healthier choices, to support your well-being. Small changes can lead to lasting impact. Together, we can build a healthier, stronger Rappahannock-Rapidan.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Rappahannock-Rapidan Health Department suggests two steps to be your healthiest self.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Living a Healthy Lifestyle<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Wellness is an active process of growth and change that involves choices toward a healthy and fulfilling life. You can improve your health with these choices:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Active Lifestyle: <\/strong>In Virginia, <a href=\"https:\/\/stacks.cdc.gov\/view\/cdc\/127313\/cdc_127313_DS1.pdf\">9% adults<\/a>reported that they had not participated in any physical activity in the past month. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/healthy-communities\/physical-activity\/\">Physical activity<\/a>\u00a0improves brain health, cognition, anxiety, depression, quality of life, and sleep. For your wellness, adults should get <a href=\"https:\/\/odphp.health.gov\/sites\/default\/files\/2019-09\/Physical_Activity_Guidelines_2nd_edition.pdf\">150 minutes a week<\/a>\u00a0of moderate activity.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Eat Nutritious Food<\/strong>: Good <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/nutrition\/php\/about\/index.html\">nutrition<\/a> is key to growing healthy bodies and preventing disease. Only <a href=\"https:\/\/stacks.cdc.gov\/view\/cdc\/127313\/cdc_127313_DS1.pdf\">7% of Virginia\u2019s adults<\/a>\u00a0reported eating fruit at least twice a day. The Rappahannock-Rapidan\u00a0Health Department can assist you in finding <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/healthy-communities\/healthy-food-environments\/\">programs<\/a>\u00a0that focus on education and finding healthy affordable foods for your family.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Avoid Tobacco Use: <\/strong>Smoking remains the leading cause of preventable death and disability in the United States. The VDH <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/tobacco-free-living\/tobacco-use-data-dashboard\/\">Tobacco Use Data Dashboard<\/a> shows 8.76% of residents living in the Rappahannock-Rapidan Health District were current smokers. In 2023, 2.81% of residents used smokeless tobacco and 1.29% used E-Cigarettes. Quitting smoking has health benefits at any age, no matter how long or how much you have smoked. Tobacco Cessation programs, like <a href=\"https:\/\/quitnowvirginia.org\/\">Quit Now Virginia<\/a>\u00a0and <a href=\"https:\/\/quitnowvirginia.org\/vapefreeva\/\">Vape Free VA<\/a>\u00a0help people live tobacco free.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Chronic Disease Management and Prevention<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/data\/chronic-disease-in-virginia\/prevalence\/\">Chronic diseases<\/a>\u00a0such as diabetes, high blood pressure and arthritis are the leading cause of illness, disability and death in Virginia. They can also limit a person\u2019s daily activity. The following programs are designed to help weed out complications and grow new habits that help people with these conditions stay active.<\/p>\n<p>The Rappahannock-Rapidan Health Department offers the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/heart-disease\/virginia-healthy-hearts-initiative\/\">Virginia Healthy Hearts Initiative<\/a> to help you manage or prevent chronic disease:<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Good health grows over time. To find out more about programs to prioritize your health, contact the Rappahannock-Rapidan Health Department at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.rrhd.org\">www.rrhd.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"># # #<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>April 10, 2026 Media Contact: Dr. Zelalem Attlee, Zelalem.Attlee@vdh.virginia.gov The Rappahannock-Rapidan Health District Celebrates Physical Wellness Month in April Take Steps to Be Your Healthiest Self. WARRENTON, Va. \u2013 Spring has sprung and Physical Wellness Month offers the opportunity to plant seeds for better health. The Rappahannock-Rapidan Health Department encourages residents to prioritize their health [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":444,"featured_media":0,"parent":16853,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[815,1646,71,1488,1644,1645,663],"class_list":["post-17952","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","tag-chronic-disease","tag-healthy-diet","tag-nutrition","tag-physical-activity","tag-physical-health","tag-physical-wellness","tag-tobacco"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The Rappahannock-Rapidan Health District Celebrates Physical Wellness Month in April - Newsroom<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/public-relations-contacts\/2026-regional-news-releases\/the-rappahannock-rapidan-health-district-celebrates-physical-wellness-month-in-april\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Rappahannock-Rapidan Health District Celebrates Physical Wellness Month in April - Newsroom\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"April 10, 2026 Media Contact: Dr. Zelalem Attlee, Zelalem.Attlee@vdh.virginia.gov The Rappahannock-Rapidan Health District Celebrates Physical Wellness Month in April Take Steps to Be Your Healthiest Self. 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