June 14, 2007 | Read Time: 2 minutes
While it doesn’t burn many calories, text messaging might soon play an important role in the battle of the bulge.
America on the Move encourages people to take small steps toward improving their health by walking an extra 2,000 steps a day, roughly a mile, and cutting 100 calories — the equivalent of a tablespoon of butter — from their daily diet. Now the Boston charity is testing a new way to allow people to use their cellphones to record their progress toward those goals and to receive text messages that offer tips and encouragement.
A big part of the current obesity epidemic is gradual weight gain, says James O. Hill, a professor at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, in Denver, and co-founder of America on the Move. He says the average American adult gains one to two pounds each year.
“The whole idea is, let’s take people where they are right now,” says Mr. Hill. “Let’s have them make small changes to stop weight gain, and move them in the right direction of being healthier.”
America on the Move already allows participants to record their progress on its Web site, and the organization says it sees the AOM Mobile program as a way to reach out to people who don’t have ready access to the Internet.
So far, more than 300 people have signed up for the program in the four cities where it is being tested — Houston, Philadephia, Pittsburgh, and Knoxville, Tenn.
According to America on the Move, more than 70 percent of African-American adults are overweight, compared with 64 percent of the general population, putting them at higher risk for diseases such as cancer, diabetes, and heart disease.
The charity is working with the Urban League of Philadelphia and the Houston Area Urban League to get the word out about the cellphone program in neighborhoods with high percentages of minority residents.
Patricia A. Coulter, chief executive officer of the Urban League of Philadelphia, says that her organization sees health and wellness programs as being “inextricably linked” to the Urban League’s traditional focus on employment and economic empowerment.
“We want to see people producing and moving ahead and progressing,” she says. “In order to do that, yes, you have to have a good job, but you also have to be healthy enough to work at that job.”
For more information: Go to http://www.americaonthemove.org/mobile.
