Chicago-Area Residents Participate in Wellness Initiative

Residents of the Chicago neighborhood, Austin, are participating in a program designed to share healthy lifestyle and preventive health tips, the Chicago Tribune reports. Offered by the Westside Health Authority, the Body and Soul program includes physician- and nurse-led panels and workshops. In addition, participants can enroll in exercise classes that are offered three times per week. As part of the program, residents are asked to establish goals, such as losing a specified amount of weight, and can receive gift cards and other incentives when they achieve their goals. According to health experts, Austin residents suffer from disproportionately high rates of obesity, hypertension and diabetes, stemming partially from limited access to fresh fruit and produce in their neighborhoods and few opportunities for physical activity. Noting that the "resulting stress and isolation can complicate efforts to break bad health habits," Jacqueline Reed, the Westside Health Authority's executive director notes that, "when people join together and work with one another, change becomes much more possible" (Graham, Chicago Tribune, 10/31/09).

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