Nonprofit aims to make R.I. a model for weight loss

 /
/

Rhode Islanders have been losing the “battle of the bulge” for years, but the nonprofit program that has garnered a lot of attention by getting thousands of people to improve their activity levels is looking to make the smallest state a model for reversing the national weight-gain trend.
In recent weeks, Rajiv Kumar and Ray Rickman have talked to just about anyone in the business community who will listen about weight loss and exercise. They’ve met with Chambers of Commerce and human resources professionals.
And earlier this month they ordered 17,000 pedometers.
They are about to kick off the 2008 edition of Shape Up Rhode Island, the statewide wellness program that has teams of people competing to see which one can collectively lose the most weight, take the most steps or exercise the most.
Last year, about 4,600 people participated in the 12-week challenge, and Rickman predicted that the number will grow to about 15,000 when Shape Up RI begins on Feb. 4.
“The goal is getting people to change their lifestyle,” said Rickman, a consultant who is assisting Kumar, a Brown University medical student and founder of the wellness program. “It works, and it’s exciting.”
Rickman is so confident in the popularity of the program that one of Shape Up RI’s goals is to eventually reverse the annual overall weight gain that, according to the Centers for Disease Control, Rhode Island has experienced since the 1980s.
Registration for the program will begin Jan. 2. For the $15 registration fee, participants receive a pedometer, a log book, a reminder wrist band and online access to various health and medical resources. (Rickman said those who are interested can call (401) 421-0608 or visit www.shapeupri.org for information.)
Since it started in 2006 with about 2,000 competitors, Shape Up Rhode Island has relied heavily on corporate participation with companies such as Lifespan, CVS Caremark Corp. and Citizens Bank fielding numerous teams.
But Rickman said the competition has drawn many smaller businesses – and some churches, schools and families – from every city and town in the state, except for Block Island.
Involving business has been effective in motivating participants because they have the “pressure of not disappointing the people they work with,” Rickman said.
And many companies see the benefits of the challenge. Rickman said statistics show obese employees are absent more frequently than workers at their proper weight, and are more reliant on health care. Overweight people are at greater risk of developing ailments such as type II diabetes.
“They’re breaking the health-care bank,” Rickman said.
In Shape Up RI, teams of between five and 11 people are allowed to compete in one of three categories or all of them: weight loss, steps walked or exercise hours logged. Teams can track their progress – and that of their competitors – on the Shape Up RI Web site.
Organizers are planning more than 100 workshops for participants over the course of the 12 weeks, with topics such as cooking with olive oil and deciphering nutrition labels. Competitors also will be eligible for free ice skating and free use of various gyms. Rickman said the events will be sponsored by Lincoln-based Amica Insurance.
Kumar, who founded Shape Up RI, is planning to market the wellness program nationally with his business partner, Brad Weinberg, to major companies nationwide, through a company he established called Providence Health Solutions LLC. •

No posts to display