Neighborhood weigh-in challenge

“We don’t power walk, we eat right,” said Danielle Washington on the necessary steps she takes to get her and her family healthy in the Neighborhood Weigh-In Challenge project.
The Washington family, as well as several other city families, each with at least one overweight child, are working with the project’s sponsor, Neighborhood Health Providers, to create “The 10-Week Fun Weight Loss Competition” in an effort to motivate not only children but their parents to live a healthier lifestyle with proper and appropriate meals and healthy activities.
“We really had to break down what we were eating. We went to more vegetables, brown rice, green pastas and salads, lots of salads.”
Before starting the program, Washington learned that she had become a diabetic; already knowing first-hand the dangers, Washington’s mother is also a diabetic, she didn’t want her children to go through that as well.
“I really commend the program because for one they give you a good motivation,” she said.
The program gives families information packages on what to eat, healthy food substitutions, activities and tips. It also sets up meetings with a registered dietitian who calls and checks in to answer any questions the families may have. Families are rewarded for the weight they lose between two week periods.
“You can still eat what you want, it’s just how you prepare it,” said Washington, who is the driving force behind the family and doesn’t believe that exercise alone will get you fit.
“People feel you have to do all of this power walking every day, no, because you can power walk but then you can come back home and have a pizza, you can have a pint of ice cream and sit in front of the TV . . . We eat right.”
“They show you that they eat right but they don’t tell you.”
For the Washington, family their diet has completely changed from the way they used to eat.
The awards ceremony was held Tuesday, December 7 at Jamaica Hospital’s Trump Pavilion where the competition’s winning family received their prizes.