Lighten up, Iowa begins January 5

Another edition of the “Lighten Up, Iowa” program is set to begin, just in time for New Year’s Resolutions. The five-month, team-based competition encourages Iowans to be more active and improve their eating habits. One of the sponsors of the program is the Iowa Games. Jim Halihan, the executive director of the Iowa Games, says the first 5,000 adults who sign up for the program will receive a pedometer. He says the goal is to have each participate record at least 10,000 steps per day on that pedometer. The competition begins on January 5th. Halihan says 40 teams have already signed up, and teams can continue to sign up even after the 5th. Last year, more than 12,000 Iowans took part and lost 23.5 tons while logging more than 2.6 million miles. The campaign runs until June 4th.