County residents win Scale Back Alabama
In January, nearly 7,500 four-member teams registered at weigh-in sites across the state to participate in Scale Back Alabama 2012, the state’s annual weight-loss competition.
Throughout the course of the 10-week program, nearly 30,000 participants were guided with weekly health tips and motivational lesson plans with the end result being a total statewide weight loss of 148,963 pounds.
Chubbindor House, from Madison County, won the grand prize of $1,000 per team member. The first-place team members included Joseph Brownell, Kimberly Rutkowski, Charles Rutkowski and Erin Christian. In second place, winning $500 per team member, was “Swamp Donkeys” from Calhoun County, and The Team that Shall Not Be Named of Madison County took the third-place prize of $250 per team member. The team prize winners were drawn from a pool of participants in which every member of the team lost at least 10 pounds.
Another 50 individual winners were randomly drawn from a pool of participants who lost at least 10 pounds during the 10-week period. In addition to the grand-prize winners and the individual winners, five individuals who lost any weight were selected to win a $50 cash prize. A list of all winners is posted on the website, www.scalebackalabama.com.
A Scale Back Alabama is a statewide weight-loss contest designed to help Alabama fight obesity and to encourage participants to develop lifelong healthy habits. The 2012 contest marks the sixth year of the program, which has resulted in a total weight loss of more than 908,000 pounds and healthier lifestyles for thousands of individuals. Scale Back Alabama is sponsored by the Alabama Hospital Association and the Alabama Department of Public Health, with generous underwriting from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama.
Statistics from Scale Back Alabama 2012:
Total number of people participating – 29,936
Total pounds lost statewide – 148,963 pounds
Number of teams on which all people lost 10 pounds – 514
Total number of individuals that lost as least 10 pounds – 7,649