WHAT: Did you know that walking for as little as 30 minutes a day provides heart health benefits for life? In fact, regular brisk walking can lower both bad cholesterol (LDL) levels and high blood pressure, help overweight individuals achieve and maintain weight loss and reduce their risk of stroke. Walking is accessible, free and has the lowest dropout rate of any kind of exercise.

Start! Walking Program is the American Heart Association's ground-breaking national campaign that calls on all Americans to commit to fighting the major causes of heart disease and stroke in adults through a comprehensive walking and nutrition program. Start! is recognizing employers who champion the health of their employees and work to create a culture of physical activity and health in the workplace.

WHO: Jane Seymour, Jerome Bettis, Subway's Jared Fogel, Chef Juan-Carlos Cruz, AHA's Dr. Ray Gibbons and Sponsor CEOs: Subway, Healthy Choice and AstraZeneca.

WHEN: Monday, January 8, 2007

WHERE: World Financial Center, Winter Garden, 200 Liberty St., New York, NY 10281

WHY: Physical inactivity significantly increases the risk of cardiovascular disease, our nation's No. 1 killer. Seventy percent of Americans don't get enough exercise, blaming lack of time and motivation. Start! evokes active, year-round participation in walking and reducing the risk of heart disease and stoke.



Jane Seymour is a multiple Emmy and Golden Globe winner, recipient of the Officer of the British Empire (OBE), is best known for her role as Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman and recently appeared in the feature film Wedding Crashers and the television series Smallville. Proving her talents in virtually all media, the Broadway stage, motion pictures and television, Jane has authored books on mothering her twin boys and has had great success as a painter and designer.

Raymond J. Gibbons, M.D., the Arthur M. and Gladys D. Gray professor of medicine at Mayo Clinical College of Medicine, in Rochester, Minn., was named president of the American Heart Association for its 2006-07 fiscal year. Gibbons has been an American Heart Association volunteer for more than 20 years.

Contact: Alex Barbieri or Megan Lozito
American Heart Association