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szdaily -> Kaleidoscope -> 
Residents of Spanish town aim to lose 100,000 kg
    2018-10-09  08:53    Shenzhen Daily

IN a remote corner of northwestern Spain, a small town has set itself the ultimate weight loss challenge: By early 2020, its residents must shed 100,000 kg.

Gone are bacon and fried calamari from the diets of thousands of residents in Naron who are taking to sport again as part of a slimming program that kicked off in January.

“In the 21st century, people forget they’re made to walk,” says Carlos Pineiro, the 63-year-old family doctor behind the program, which has the support of the town council.

Perched on the Atlantic coast of the Galicia region, the 40,000-strong town counts 9,000 overweight residents and another 3,000 who suffer from obesity, Pineiro says.

Known for its gastronomy and often gargantuan dishes, Galicia is the region in Spain with the most overweight people, according to a study by the Spanish Society of Cardiology.

“The rainy weather means people stay at home a lot with a very big daily ingestion of calories,” says Pineiro.

More than 4,000 residents, a 10th of the population, have joined the project.

To show their support, the mayor, Marian Ferreiro, and her municipal councillors, weighed themselves together in public on giant scales.

The program, drawn up by local doctors, offers personalized diets and physical activity adapted to those who adhere.

In the town, 18 restaurants now offer healthier dishes by promoting an Atlantic-style diet full of seafood.

(SD-Agencies)

“I replace salt with algae, fish

Earlier this month, the World Health Organization warned that obesity and the growing proportion of people who are overweight risked reversing the general trend of rising life expectancy in Europe.

In Spain, the topic regularly comes up.

An interview with a 34-year-old patient in eastern Spain who weighs 385kg recently made headlines.

“It’s not at all easy to convince adults” to change their lifestyle, says Dr Pineiro, whose own family history has been blighted by genetic cardiovascular illness, albeit not linked to weight.

“Some say: ‘the last thing I need is for the doctor to tell me what I must do’.”

He is more hopeful that children will catch on.

At the Jorge Juan school in Naron, for instance, pupils are being encouraged to live a healthy lifestyle in a pilot programme in the town.

During recess, “we go out to the seaside promenade” with the youngsters, says Maria Jose Cazorla, a 55-year-old teacher, who has lost 14kg in a year.

The school’s 224 students are given the option of doing sport for one hour every day and those who are reticent can ride an exercise bike for an activity called “I pedal while reading.”

Those who live nearby are encouraged to walk or cycle to school, or ride scooters, wearing special electronic bracelets that let parents know when they have arrived.

The slogan “get addicted to fruit” adorns the walls of the school where fruit is given out every morning.

But “we don’t ever talk about weight directly” to the children, which “would have a stigmatising effect,” says Dr Pineiro.

Beyond the 100,000-kg weight loss challenge, he hopes residents will adopt “a healthy lifestyle to put a brake on chronic illness”, which would also reduce health spending.

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