Fighting Obesity: Spanish town wants to shed 100,000 kilos

World
Europe

02:21

A Spanish town is delivering some inspiration in its fight against obesity. It started a weight loss program after nearly a third of the town's population were found to be overweight.

The small town of Naron in northwestern Spain has set itself a weighty challenge. At the start of the year 4,000 residents, a tenth of the population, embarked on a collective diet, with the goal of losing 100,000 kilos by 2020. Galicia has the highest obesity rate in Spain and doctors hope the challenge will make the town healthier and cut hospital costs.

CARLOS PINEIRO DOCTOR "We have calculated that each year, if this continues as we expect with a participation of 6,000 people per year, we will save between 1.8 million euros and 2.4 million euros per year."

The programme offers personalised diets and physical activity adapted to those who stick to it. Every now and then, they come to the town's health centres to weigh themselves. Among the success stories is Alexandra, who lost 13 kilos in 8 months.

ALEJANDRA MEDIN SANTOS PARTICIPANT OF THE PROJECT "Seeing my neighbour, or someone I know, do the same thing I do is an additional reason to continue."

In the town, 18 restaurants now offer healthier dishes. Chef Diego is replacing salt in his dishes with seaweed and seafood.

DIEGO PLATAS COOK "We multiply the flavours. With a simple dehydrated mussel, you make a bed of salt, but it's not iodized salt. It's just from the sea."

It's hoped that children in the town will catch on too. One local school has set a target for students to do one hour of physical activity per day. Every moment is taken advantage of: reading can be done on a stationary bicycle, children are encouraged to walk to school and active recreation is prioritised.

MARIA JOSE CAZORLA TEACHER "All these habits that we teach them from an early age are so that they can pass them on to their families, to their children to improve their health."

With its weight loss challenge, Naron hopes to replicate the success of similar programs in New York and Atlanta. As an added bonus to the community, once the kilos are lost, participants will contribute the equivalent weight of non-perishable food to a food bank.