The COEfficient The COEfficient - Capital Health

or the long haul
KAREN KARBASHEWSKI/CAPITAL HEALTH
New effort promotes participation,
lifestyle changes
Capital Health is putting residents in the region in the
driver’s seat with their new Weight Wise In It for the Long
Haul initiative, a drive that is geared at helping residents
eat healthier and increase their activity level while reducing
their Body Mass Index and waist circumference.
“We know that change will not occur
overnight and that’s why we are in
this for the long haul,” says Joanna
Pawlyshyn, executive lead for Capital
Health’s Weight Wise initiative and
Vice-President and Chief Operating
Officer of Royal Alexandra Hospital.
“We want to help residents in this
region become healthier by providing
them with information, tools and
the incentive to help them become
the most weight wise population
in the country.”
Weight Wise In It for the Long Haul
is part of the larger Weight Wise initiative
that Capital Health introduced
last year. This comprehensive approach
to addressing the obesity epidemic
that exists in our population includes
a number of programs and services
ranging from promoting healthy
lives to offering bariatric surgery for
extremely obese adults. All of these
efforts are designed to help adults
and children reach healthy weights
while supporting them to make lifestyle
changes for improved health.
Essentially it’s about creating healthy
weights for healthy lives.
Part of the Weight Wise In It for the
Long Haul effort includes putting the
tools and information into the hands
of the public so that they can make
wise and healthy decisions about
the food that they eat, their activity
levels, and other lifestyle factors.
Using the interactive Weight Wise
website residents can register
to receive monthly newsletters,
weekly reminders about inputting
their progress on eating healthy
and increasing their activity levels,
as well as tracking their weight loss
and waist circumference. All this
is available just by signing up at
www.capitalhealth.ca/weightwise.
Capital Health will also work with
its partners and others in the communities
so that they can join in on the
journey and help residents reach our
objective – healthy weights for healthy
lives for both children and adults.
“We know that obesity is not something
that the health system can
tackle alone. It requires each one
of us as individuals and as family
members and community members
to make wise choices about diet,
exercise, and creating supportive
environments to help people make
good decisions,” says John Stanton,
Community Ambassador for Weight
Wise.
“Becoming more weight wise is about
making long-term commitments and
lifestyle changes and that’s what we are
looking to achieve with this exciting
new effort. I encourage residents
to sign up and join us as we work
together to improve the health of
our region.”
Members of Capital Health’s
Weight Wise Community Network
support the prevention and
management of weight and
obesity issues and help individuals
to improve healthy living habits.
To find out how you can become
a Network Member visit:
www.capitalhealth.ca/weightwise
CHIP – Coronary Health
Improvement Program
Centre for Cognitive
Behavioral Therapy
Changes for Women
City of Edmonton –
Leisure, Sports and
Fitness Facilities
Club Fit Corporation
Fit N Well Personal
Training Inc.
Kwantum Wellness Centre
MacEwan Centre for
Sport and Wellness
Maximum Motion Personal
Fitness Training, Inc.
Rejuvenation Health
Services, Inc.
Running Room Canada, Inc.
Strathcona County,
Recreation, Parks and Culture
University of Alberta
Fitness and Lifestyle Centre
Weight Watchers of
Alberta, Ltd.
YMCA Edmonton
www.capitalhealth.ca SUMMER 2006 ~ CHQ 13