The Joint Base Myer Henderson-Hall Family Advocacy Program staff seeks to help parents become healthier while providing a space for them to expand their circle of friends through a new Parent Power Walking Group.

Open to all military parents, the power walk is an on-going event that starts in May and continues until September. It will be held Mondays and Wednesdays at Long Bridge Park in Arlington, Virginia, from 9 to 10 a.m. Parents with infant children up to age 3 are encouraged to have them in strollers while walking along the trail and exercising. Along with walking, participants will engage in calisthenics and core strengthening. Participants are also encouraged to stop at exercise stations set up along the walk route at the park.

Pamela Hirsch, coordinator and home visitor for the New Parent Support Program on JBM-HH, explained that the group will not only be beneficial for the cardiovascular system but that it has a socializing component to it.

“One of the purposes is just to get parents to connect to one another and to have a source for coming together,” said Mary Cargill, also a home visitor for the New Parent Support Program and a certified fitness instructor. “Another purpose is to get parents outside in the sun because a lot of our parents are isolated. We want to get them out in the sun to reduce the risk of depression.”

Almost 15 million adults suffer from different forms of depression in the United States, according to the American Psychological Association. The National Institute of Mental Health recommends exercise, alongside clinical treatment, as a good a way help with depressive feelings.

Kids also become inspired when seeing their parents do physical activities, Hirsch added.

“It’s also role-modeling for the kids. So if the kids come in the stroller they are going to be watching mom or dad do push-ups, sit-ups, running stairs, step-ups, planks and tricep dips,” Hirsch explained.

Cargill said she also understands there are some stay-at-home parents who don’t own vehicles, and that their family and friends reside in different states.

“And so those two things lead to isolation. If you live in an apartment complex, you very often don’t know your neighbors, so they are out there making friends,” said Cargill.

Hirsch, who will be leading one of the exercise groups, added that living in the National Capital Region can be difficult because military families don’t tend to live in the same neighborhood. Hirsch explained that Fort Myer doesn’t have a lot of living space for families, so it makes it difficult for families to have that immediate support.

“It is really hard to meet people,” Hirsch said. “It is a lot different than other places where the only thing that is going on is the base and the military community.”

Hirsch added that this event will help bring stay-at-home parents out of isolation, “so they can talk and exchange parenting tips; parents are great resources for one another.”

Call 703-696-3512 for more information and to register for this event.

Contact Pentagram Staff Writer Delonte Harrod at dharrod@dcmililtary.com.