The state of Iowa is much lighter these days. Iowa Games executive director Jim Hallihan says participants in Lighten Up Iowa lost more than 46-and-a-half tons. It is the fourth year for the program which encourages weight loss and exersize.In its first year, 1,400 Iowans took part. This year there were more than 19 thousand 200 participants. He says they lost 93-thousand pounds of fat and tracked over four million miles of activity. Teams of two to ten people tracked their weight loss and activity over a five-month period. Hallihan hopes the program will help combat obesity, as he says it’s the second biggest preventable cause of death, with only tobacco exceeding it. The program is administered by the Iowa Games along with the state Health Department and ISU extension. Tim Lane of the Department of Health says the ramifications of the program are like a small stone in a large pound with its ripple effect.
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