[Excerpt] A study last year found that in six city neighborhoods surveyed, seven of 10 people were either overweight or obese.
Another study, the Greater New Haven Community Index for 2013 put together by DataHaven, found 66 percent of adults in Greater New Haven were overweight or obese. The report also noted that in 2011 half of middle school students in New Haven schools did not meet guidelines for healthy weight, putting them at risk for obesity as adults.
Get Healthy CT will monitor the city’s weight loss progress on its website, www.GetHealthyCT.org. Residents can sign up to take an exercise and healthy eating pledge there.
Officials point out the city can meet the 375,000-pound goal if each resident loses 3 pounds.
“It is our mission to inspire the health and well-being of the patients in our care,” said Michael Taylor, the health center’s CEO. “We want to make New Haven a little lighter, a little more agile.”
Dr. Mark Russi, a professor at the Yale School of Medicine and director of occupational health and wellness at Yale-New Haven Hospital, said reasonable weight loss and healthful eating can lead to a dramatic improvement in overall health.
“The greatest current threat to the health of America is obesity,” Russi said.
