Just keep moving.

That’s the message the Suffolk Partnership for a Healthy Community hopes to get across with its Suffolk on the Move program. The idea is that everyone needs to do something to stay fit and healthy, but not everyone can go out and run a marathon, for instance. Suffolk on the Move is dedicated to showing the city that there are many ways to maintain reasonable levels of physical activity, thereby increasing fitness and general health.

Scientific studies confirm that the accumulation of movement throughout the day can have big benefits. Parking on the other side of the lot from the close spaces and then walking to the store, for instance, adds steps and activity to the daily total. Even fidgeting or foot-tapping at one’s desk turns out to be better for physical health than sitting still, though it could be frustrating for your co-workers.

To help make its point about movement, Suffolk Partnership officials partnered recently with the Suffolk Department of Parks and Recreation to sponsor Wii bowling competitions for senior citizens and disabled youth. At three different events during the past couple of weeks, televisions and Wii game consoles were set up for friendly bowling competition.

There were some awards for high scores, consecutive strikes and the like. But everyone who picked up a “Wii-mote” and rolled a virtual ball down the virtual lane was a winner, for they all learned the benefits of just staying on the move.