A Race to Women's Health
By
The 25th annual 5k race for the Melpomene Institute starts at Mississippi Boulevard in St. Paul on May 3. Since 1983, the Melpomene Institute, of St. Paul, has sponsored the race to provide women with the opportunity to be physically active.
In the first race, men greatly outnumbered women participants, said Dan Gjelten, a member of the institute’s board of directors. Gjelten came in contact with Melpomene because of its focus on fitness. As an avid runner himself, he participated in the 5k race and found the mission of the institute to be something worth working for.
Gjelten felt that the Melpomene Institute filled a gap in health education when little focus had been put on women. “The Melpomene Institute began over 25 years ago, as an advocate for women's health and fitness, before women had the involvement in sports that they do today,” Gjelten said.
Today the race is nearly half women and half men. Since it began, the institute has added several races for different levels of physical activity. There is a coed race, a women’s 5k and men’s 5k, and a kids’ fun run. In 2007, 900 people participated in the race.
The Melpomene Institute was founded in 1982 by Judy Mahle Lutter, a former sportswriter for the Pioneer Press. The institute quickly became a resource and national voice for women’s health.
Interest in women’s health became a public issue in the 1980s after the implementation of Title IX, an education amendment that prohibited discrimination based on gender in federally funded athletics. The Executive Director Shawne Monahan felt the widespread use of the internet contributed the public interest in women’s health.
“Women gained access to the latest research on nearly every issue in women’s health. These women were benefiting, greatly, from mainstream health and wellness efforts,” Monahan said.
From the attic of Lutter’s home, the Institute started conducting its own research. It started with a questionnaire sent to women in the Twin Cities. The return mail was filled with handwritten notes and questions by women showing their interest in their own health and physical fitness.
The Melpomene Institute started The Melpomene Journal in 1983 and has continued publishing since. The journal acted as an outlet for publishing the institute’s academic research and findings.
The same year, Melpomene began a study on osteoporosis in sedentary women. Nearly 800 women called and volunteered to participate.
The institute partnered with Abbott Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis, the former Midway Hospital in St. Paul and the Center for Diagnostic Imaging in St. Louis Park, Minn., to have bone scans and health evaluations done on all of the participants.
Melpomene now employs several full-time staff members, but it still relies on volunteers and interns. The institute has had nearly 215 interns over its 26-year history.
The institute is currently conducting research to study the disparity in physical activity for ethnic minority girls and the rest of the female population. The long-term goal of their research is to reduce the differences in health for girls of ethnic minorities.
“Our goal is to connect those women and girls with the opportunities that exist to enhance their health and physical fitness,” Gjelten said.
From its research, the Melpomene Institute’s research constructs new models and plans for stimulating physical activity among women. The institute implements the research findings through its fitness programs in the Twin Cities.
Nearly 10 years ago, women in the Twin Cities were joining a pilot program being held at Genmar Holdings, Inc. A Star Tribune article by Kay Miller found Cindy Warren, who was approached by her boss to volunteer for the program. The program stressed a healthy diet, stress management and increasing activity levels at home and at work.
At first she was reluctant. Melpomene’s research showed that she wasn’t alone. Many women felt self-conscious exercising in front of their co-workers and due to a lack of time many of the women had remained inactive for years.
“I've got three kids and a dog," said Warren to Miller. "My life doesn't offer a whole lot of time for an exercise class."
Once she began working out, she saw progress in herself and fellow staff members. She became more self-confident after she lost 20 pounds. Warren and her colleagues began meeting for healthy group lunches and a noon-time walking group formed. They continued the 12-week program until the end.
Nearly a year after the pilot had finished, she is still walking.
The pilot helped Melpomene reconstruct the fitness program before offering it to several other companies to try out.
In 2005 the institute began a new direction. It moved from being a health research organization to being a health advocacy organization. Melpomene works with community-based programs to promote wellness, which it hopes will help prevent chronic conditions like osteoporosis in women.
The mission of the group has changed over the years as well. While Melpomene seeks to eliminate the gaps in women’s health in Minnesota, it attempts to empower women and girls to lead active lives. The institute’s new mission is “to help women and girls achieve adequate nutrition, physical activity, rest, and personal safety by removing barriers at the policy level and by introducing innovative practices at the community level.”