This time the community of Ulkatcho First Nation is going the distance with a health challenge campaign.
In the past, the challenge to lose weight and get healthy has been held for a six-week period in the communty located 318 kilometres west of Williams Lake.
It has been so popular that the latest one which kicked off on Jan. 14 will go until March 18, said the community’s health director Cristina Tallio.
“With the feedback from the community I decided to go a bit longer,” Tallio said. “People that have signed up will come into the Anahim Lake Nursing Station to be weighed biweekly and at the end they come in for their final weigh-in.”
Whoever loses the most weight will win a prize — $500 first prize, $300, second prize and $200 third prize.
She said the last she heard between 20 and 30 people had signed up for the challenge.
“We get a lot of good feedback from the community,” she added. “Hopefully we are going to get one of the nurses or one of the RCMP officer’s wives who know yoga to do a yoga night. Before we had an afternoon walking group, but we haven’t started that up yet. We also have an exercise weight room in the community hall that is open to the public.”
When people arrive for the biweekly weigh in, they have the option of talking to one of the three nurses about diet improvements.
Tallio has worked as the health department for five years and grew up in nearby Nimpo Lake.
She said one of the challenges for people living at Ulkatcho is trying to be active and healthy eating.
“We hold these health challenges once or twice a year. We try to promote health eating.”
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