BATON ROUGE, La. - Louisiana residents are being urged to "lighten up" in a new five-month statewide campaign to promote healthy lifestyles, weight loss and physical fitness.
The governor's fitness guru is sounding the call for entrants into a weight loss competition called "Lighten Up Louisiana."
"Louisiana's obesity rates are hitting the roof. The governor wants something done about it," said Rudy Macklin, director of the Governor's Council on Physical Fitness Sports.
Louisiana leads the nation in childhood obesity, and more than half of its adults are overweight, which can mean poor health and big doctor bills.
Legislative efforts to combat obesity didn't go very far during the last session. Bills to limit soft drinks and other vending machine sales in schools and require physical education in schools got nowhere, but state health secretary Fred Cerise said his office will be back next year pushing for the changes.
In the competition, winners will be teams that lose the highest percentage of weight with the 10 most successful teams to be honored with a reception at the Governor's Mansion.
Teams of two to 10 people can register for the competition by logging onto www.lightenuplouisiana.org or mailing a completed registration form to the Office of Public Health, Lighten Up Louisiana, 325 Loyola Ave., Room 315, New Orleans, LA 70112. The competition will run Aug. 30 to Jan. 31.