Here’s to a healthier community

The Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman’s annual Trim to Win contest officially kicks off tomorrow. Weigh-ins were completed last Saturday and now the hard work begins for this year’s contestants.

While the $3,000 top prize waiting at the finish line for the top loser will certainly provide motivation, we hope the chance at earning the top prize will be the first step for this year’s contestants towards a healthier lifestyle.

With an estimated 58 million overweight people in the United States, and eight of 10 adults over 25 considered overweight, obesity has reached epidemic proportions. As dismal as the numbers for adults sound, the news for American children isn’t much better with nearly 30 percent considered overweight. Unfortunately, the number of overweight American children is increasing at alarming rates, rising from just 4 percent in 1982 to nearly 30 percent in less than 20 years.

Obesity-related health risks range from diabetes and high blood pressure to cardiovascular and gall bladder diseases. Overweight people are also at increased risks of breast and colon cancer.

In 2008, the 179 Trim to Win contestants who crossed the finish line lost more than 2,800 pounds in the three-month contest. The top three “losers” were separated by less than 2 percentage points in weight loss. John Brown of Wasilla inched out Jennifer Nininger and Michelle Bernstine, both from Palmer, by losing an impressive 21.03 percent of his starting weight. Nininger and Bernstine showed equally impressive losses with 20.77 percent and 19.43 percent respectively.

Contestants ranged in age from 18 to 76 and 95 percent of them lost weight, proving that you’re never too old or too young to live a healthier lifestyle.

We wish this year’s contestants the best of luck as they start their journies to better health tomorrow.

We also invite all our readers to follow the progress of Frontiersman employees Lynn Pursley and Janae Powell, who will be blogging about their experiences on our Web site, www.frontiersman.com, along with other contestants.

The popular recipe exchange blog will be back again this year, too.

You don’t have to be a registered contestant to access the Trim to Win site, so if you’re looking for a local community support site while you work to drop a few pounds or new healthy recipes to feed your family, or you simply want to see how this year’s contestants are faring, we hope you stop in for a visit.