Challenging Obesity in Black Community - washingtonpost.com: The goal is to shed 50 million pounds. The target is the black community, which suffers disproportionately from obesity and its unhealthy side effects.
The 50 Million Pound Challenge, a national campaign aimed at encouraging weight loss and healthy living, comes to Prince George's County today with a 5K race, health screenings, entertainment and a fitness fair at Bowie State University.
The program, which has enlisted more than 690,000 people nationwide who have lost almost 3 million pounds since April 2007, provides a diet, an exercise plan and advice for changing unhealthy habits.
'Poor lifestyle choices and cultural entrenchments have, unfortunately, made African Americans extremely vulnerable to a wide range of diseases that are in many cases life-threatening,' said Ian Smith, the doctor and author who began the program. 'What we are trying to do is not only to get people to lose weight, but to get them to take a better look at the choices that are directly impacting their physical and spiritual health.'
