It’s not too late to join a statewide program to help you drop a few pounds or give you some motivation to be more active. Today is the last day to register to be part of the statewide Fall 2008 Shape Up Missouri Challenge . Teams of two to 10 adults compete in either weight loss or activity minutes for nine weeks.
“Obesity is an issue for a lot of Missourians, however what we try to promote is we try to promote getting people to pick out certain times of the day and not necessarily in a formal venue but certain times of the day when they can be physically active,” said Assistant Director Larry Luetjen. “That may mean walking a little farther in the parking lot to work or walking when you go shopping or working outdoors.”
The program is designed to fight the culture of obesity.
“[It’s] not going to happen overnight, but as long as it continues and there’s an awareness and that’s our mission,” he said. “Our mission is to simply put programs in place that create an awareness that this is important and says this is important as you know harder to do something by yourself but it’s a lot easier to do it with a group of people who are motivating each other to stay active.”
While the competitors are adults, the challenge effects kids, Luetjen said.
“We feel it’s very important that we create an awareness that adults are physically active as much as they can each and every day,” he said. “Now hopefully the trickle down effect is that our young people will see adults making that effort and then hopefully they will learn by example that hey I need to be physically active too.”
As a competitor you’ll get an e-mail with physical activity and nutrition tips, a t-shirt and an entry into weekly drawings.