DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Whether giggles or guffaws, laughter is good for you.

But at the Iowa Capitol in Des Moines on Monday, the tittering was more than just therapeutic.

It was Laugh Out Loud Day, which was a statewide effort by Iowa’s Healthiest State Initiative to spread the health benefits of laughter.

Liz Cox is a project manager for the initiative. She tells the Des Moines Register that sleep, exercise and laughter are good ways to metabolize stress.

Clowns raised the merriment level at the Capitol by handing out balloons, silk flowers and oversized coins.

Third-graders from a West Des Moines school batted around beach balls and took part in a fitness routine led by state Department of
Public Health employees dressed as fruits and vegetables.