Cardiologist Dr. Satish Kohli said a new weight-loss program could help many people head off major health problems and help other people as well.

The Muskogee Wellness Initiative is urging people to take the Pound For Pound challenge.

Once they join, for every pound an entrant loses, a pound of food will be donated to a local food bank based on zip code. Also, for every pound pledged and lost, General Mills will donate 11 cents to the Community Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma. If people who are already at a healthy weight can pledge to maintain that, five pounds of food will be donated.

Kohli said excessive weight is a factor in several deadly diseases.

“Obesity contributes tremendously toward worsening early onset of heart disease and also hypertension and diabetes,” Kohli said. “Other results would be arthritis as the joints give out because they have to carry that much weight around. People need to not only watch their diet but remember to exercise. It has to be a combination of cutting your food portions and more activity.”

Kohli said Muskogee Wellness Initiative programs like their Pound For Pound team-building can be a tremendous help to area residents.

“I think they really ought to be commended for putting their efforts into this area,

 Kohli said. Any help to mitigate this problem will be welcome. You’ve got people going through risky and expensive procedures like bariatric surgery to lose weight. This could address the preventative aspect and try to take care of the problem before it gets out of hand.”

Lisa Raasch, coordinator for the Muskogee Wellness Initiative, said her group is challenging Muskogee residents to pledge to lose 10,000 pounds through the challenge.

Raasch said people can pledge online by searching for “Muskogee Wellness Initiative” at www.pfpchallenge.com through May 31.

Raasch said daily diet is extremely relevant to public health in Muskogee County.

“About 62 percent of Muskogee County residents are either overweight or obese, according to recent statistics,” she said.

Raasch said Oklahoma ranks sixth in the nation for obesity and fourth in the nation in terms of the number of people going hungry.

“For the people who sign up for the Pound For Pound challenge, what this will do is put less food on their plates and actually put more food on the plate of someone who may not know where their next meal is coming from,” she said.

There are several way the initiative plans to get people inspired to sign up.

“We hope that faith organizations will get involved,” she said. “Right here in Muskogee there are about nine of the local churches that participate in a program that provides backpacks filled with food for kids who may not have food on weekends or over spring break. If we can get those churches involved, it will support those backpack programs, because the programs get a portion of the food from the Community Foodbank of Eastern Oklahoma.”

The wellness initiative also wants to begin engaging civic organizations, businesses and their employees, and even neighbors, Raasch said.

Reach Keith Purtell at (918) 684-2925 or kpurtell@muskogeephoenix.com.

What to do

Join the Pound For Pound challenge by visiting www.pfpchallenge.com and search for “Muskogee Wellness Initiative.”