Active Living
In FY 2025, AgriLife Extension Family and Community Health educators and volunteers conducted more than 4,000 educational events on active living topics, resulting in over 264,500 direct contacts. The following programmatic highlights illustrate how AgriLife Extension’s educational programs positively impact the health and well-being of Texans.
Walk Across Texas
Walk Across Texas (WAT) promotes an active lifestyle by encouraging teams to track their physical activity. Supported by locally sponsored challenges, the program engages communities year-round. In fiscal year 2025, 190 Texas counties participated, with 18,469 adults and 33,294 youth logging 6.4 million miles. Participants increased activity by 1.5 sessions and 15.8 minutes per week, with nearly 20% more meeting activity recommendations by the program’s end. Since 1996, more than 830,000 Texans have participated in WAT, showcasing statewide behavioral and economic impacts.
Walk Through Texas History
Walk Through Texas History (WTTH) promotes an active lifestyle and explores Texas’ heritage through team-based physical activity tracking. Despite being online, it fosters community engagement through locally sponsored challenges with events and activities. In FY 2025, 693 adults logged 40,380 miles across 30 counties, forming 217 teams. Participants increased activity by 0.41 sessions and 3.58 minutes per week, with nearly 10% more meeting activity recommendations by the program’s end. Since 2020, it has engaged over 4,800 participants, highlighting its health, community, and cultural impact.
Participating in the Walk Across Texas program provided numerous benefits to me. It significantly improved my physical health by encouraging regular walking, which helped enhance my cardiovascular fitness, muscle strength, and overall well being. The program also provided a motivating goal, pushing me to stay consistent and achieve the challenge of walking the equivalent of 100 miles over 8 weeks. It fostered a sense of accomplishment as I reached each milestone and gave me a clear focus on staying active. Additionally, the program served as an excellent opportunity for family bonding as we walked together, supported each other, and enjoyed quality time outdoors. Overall, it was a rewarding experience that boosted my health and reinforced the importance of staying active and committed to long-term wellness.”
Balancing Food & Play
A school-enrichment program for third through fifth grades, Balancing Food & Play promotes lifelong healthy behaviors through nutrition, physical activity, and family engagement. The program engages children in fun and creative ways to develop healthy habits and learn about nutrition and physical activity. In FY 2025, 25 Texas counties implemented the program, with 1,873 students. Evaluation results indicate that students increased their physical activity levels and fruit consumption, while decreasing screen time and intake of sugar-sweetened beverages.
StrongPeople™ Strong Bodies
StrongPeopleTM Strong Bodies (SPSB) is a community-based strength training program designed for midlife and older adults to improve overall physical health and functional fitness. The program features twice-weekly, 45–60 minute group sessions (8–12 participants) delivered over 12 or 24 weeks. Classes include a brief warm-up, two structured resistance-training regimens targeting major muscle groups using dumbbells, ankle weights, and body weight, and a cool-down focused on flexibility and balance.
SPSB promotes increased muscle mass and strength, improved bone density, and reduced risk of chronic conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, arthritis, depression, and obesity, while also enhancing self-confidence, sleep, and vitality. In FY 2025, 291 participants across seven Texas counties took part. Outcomes were strong: 28.9% reported fewer days of poor physical health in the past month, 24.2% began exercising, and 100% would recommend the program. Additionally, 36% lost weight (averaging 5.7 pounds), and participants demonstrated measurable strength gains—such as an average 2-pound increase in bicep curl weight between Weeks 1 and 12.
A Matter of Balance
AgriLife Extension’s Healthy Aging programming helps provide education, resources, and support to older Texans, their caregivers and the professionals who serve them. One such program, A Matter of Balance, helps older adults increase their physical activity and reduce their risk for falling, the leading
cause of unintentional injury death in the state. In FY 2025, 141 older Texans participated in A Matter of Balance. Participants showed a significant increase in confidence and physical activity. Studies show that participants in A Matter of Balance save an estimated $1,249 in health costs in the 12 months following completion of the series. For the FY 2025 program year, that is almost $117,000 in savings.
This program not only helps my physical strength, but I also have support from people who keep each other accountable to show up to each class.”
I have become a lot more aware of my surroundings. I have found a lot of things that I need to change in my home/yard/garage.”