To sign up for the SSHW Team Challenge, go to the website http://go.osu.edu/clarksmallsteps. Teams of five can be organized in the workplace, at church, or from groups of friends. The team captain should register the team using the Team Enrollment form. The captain will receive an email verifying that the registration has been received.

The SSHW Challenge is part of Small Steps to Health and Wealth, a national Cooperative Extension program developed to motivate Americans to take action to simultaneously improve their health and personal finances.  SSHW was built around a framework of 25 research-based behavior change strategies.  

It has been well documented that, when people monitor their behavior and measure their how they???re doing, they are often inspired to do better and achieve positive results. Team camaraderie also is a motivator to achieve goals. Participants in a SSHW Challenge are ???on their honor??? to report their activities accurately.  If they ???cheat??? on reporting their points, they are only cheating themselves by not following the recommended daily practices.

The SSHW Team Challenge is based on the performance of ten recommended practices on a daily basis: five that involve health and nutrition and five that involve financial management.  Ten points are given for performing each one for a maximum of 700 points per week and 4,200 points for the entire challenge. "The Challenge is a great way to convert ambitious New Year's resolutions, like losing weight and saving money, into daily action steps" notes Dr. Barbara O'Neill, Extension Specialist in Financial Resource Management for Rutgers Cooperative Extension, originator of the program.

The five daily health and nutrition practices are: eat at least 4 cups of fruits and vegetables; get at least 30 minutes of physical activity; drink water or unsweetened beverages instead of sugar-sweetened beverages; eat at least two servings of whole grain foods; and learn something new about health and nutrition.

The five daily financial management practices included in the SSHW Challenge are: save a $1 bill (or more) and/or pocket change; invest $5 or more per day (including automated retirement savings plan deposits); track money spent throughout the day; eat lunch prepared at home; and learn something new about personal finance.  The latter activity, for both health and personal finances, can be accomplished by visiting Web sites, attending seminars, or by reading, listening to, or viewing media reports.  

Daily motivational messages will also be provided to participants. Paper tracking forms can be downloaded from the website to keep track of daily activities until they are entered online by their team captain.

Doing even one of the ten recommended daily practices is a great way to get started on the path to better health and improved financial security. The more SSHW Challenge activities that are performed by participants, the better. To sign up for this 2012 SSHW Team Challenge, visit the OSU Extension SSHW Web site at http://go.osu.edu/clarksmallsteps or email Carol Miller at (937) 521-3860.