For those who have made weight loss one of their New Year's resolutions, Scale Back Alabama may be able to help.
Until tomorrow, people can go to various locations to weigh in and enter into the contest. This is the fourth year Alabama has conducted the program and representatives say its success grows each year.
People form teams of four and each contestant has 10 weeks to lose 10 pounds. Each team that completes the task will be entered into a drawing to win $1,000. Also, each person who loses 10 pounds will be entered into a drawing for a prize.
"The Scale Back Alabama is a joint partnership between the hospital association and the health department," said Miriam Gaines, nutrition and physical activity director for the Alabama Department of Public Health. "The health department provides all the health messages and the lesson plans. The hospital association handles all of the logistics for the team information."
This is not just a contest, but a way to help Alabama citizens sustain a healthier way of life.
"We do surveys from the contestants at the end of the contest and those surveys have proved that contestants have increased their water consumption, their fruits and vegetables consumption, and they also have increased their physical activity," Gaines said.
Gaines said approximately 32 percent of people in Alabama are obese and approximately 64 percent are overweight. Gaines said they have also found that 8 out of 10 people who are overweight will have some kind of health problem.
"Every week there is a lesson on the Web site," Gaines said, "and you read the lesson and you follow the suggestions and you build to get a healthier lifestyle based on what the lessons are teaching you. The contest has a goal of weight loss, but the underwriting message is a healthy lifestyle."
There are many locations in the Auburn/Opelika area where people can weigh in. All the locations and weigh-in times can be found on the Web site http://www2.scalebackalabama.com/public/site-list.php.
"In 2009 (the East Alabama Medical Center) had 812 participants and 3,706 pounds were lost in the 10 weeks," said Kathe Briggs, director of health promotion and disease management at East Alabama Medical Center. "Every year it goes up a little more. More people lose weight and some people come back."
There are many ways people and organizations in each surrounding area provide places and events to help people lose weight. All 22 Alabama State Parks will be having an event for three weekends during the contest.
"People who are participating in this will present a yellow Scale Back Alabama weigh in card or a printed conformation e-mail, and then those people get in to the park free," said Dale Banks, Chewacla park manager. "Hopefully (Scale Back Alabama) will get people who normally don't have a place to get out and walk or exercise to come. They will actually go to Chewacala and realize we do have a place locally where we can actually get out and walk and to enjoy and get some sort of exercise in."
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