Cerritos College
Cerritos College’s Weight Management Program Is an Overwhelming Success
Pound by Pound Promotes Healthy Lifestyle among Students and Staff
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 4, 2010
Media Contact:Aya Abelon, Public Affairs; (562) 860-2451, ext. 2287
NORWALK, Calif. - February 4, 2010 - The Cerritos College Student Health and Wellness Center, in partnership with the Health Education Department, launched a weight management program "Pound by Pound Challenge" in fall 2009. The results have been outstanding.
The sixteen-week weight management program included free initial fitness evaluation; physical exams; consultation with licensed dietician and nutritionist; support group; boot camps; the 2009 edition Calorie, Fat & Carbohydrate Counter and food; and exercising journal.
Participants take pre- and post- fitness tests to see where they are to begin with physically. Participants are required to work out two times a week with one of the eight classes called "Boot Camps" that are overseen by the Physical Education Department instructors on campus and also complete three work outs at home. Participants are also required to weigh in at least once a week to stay in the program and meet with the dieticians twice a month.
“This program helped me a lot,” said Anna Flores, a student who participated in the program. “The combination of physical exercise and nutritional education taught me what I can eat and what I can do to lose weight and become healthy.”
Nancy Montgomery, coordinator of Student Health Services, saw a strong need for health education among the Cerritos College students.
“While in college, students are known to eat unhealthy and indulge in fast food,” she said.
To address obesity and personal health issues the campus community faces, she came up with the idea of an on-campus weight loss program.
She wrote a grant proposal to Kaiser Permanente in Bellflower last year and won the grant. With the grant in hand, she involved Ni Bueno in the Physical Education/Health Department, hired a dietician and a nutritionist, and developed a semester-long weight management program.
Overwhelmingly, 200 students, staff and faculty participated in the first semester. The total weight loss for the semester was approximately 400 pounds. One person lost 19 pounds, and reduced triglycerides and cholesterol by 75%.
There were 30 participants with lipid issues such as high hyperlipidemia, high cholesterol, or hypertension. More than half of the participants who followed both exercise and diet plan lowered their high lipid levels by 10-24%. Two of the five participants with diabetes got off or decreased their diabetic medications.
“The program is life-changing for these participants,” said Montgomery. “It provides free medical services, dieticians, and fitness training to assist our students in becoming healthy and learning to make healthy choices for the rest of their lives.”
"This grant-funded program has proven to be an amazing success,” she said. “We would love to keep the program going so we can continue to help improve students’ health and lifestyles.”
For more information about the Pound by Pound program, please contact the Student Health and Wellness Center at (562) 860-2451 ext. 2321.
Cerritos College serves as a comprehensive community college for southeastern Los Angeles County. Communities within the college’s district include Artesia, Bellflower, Cerritos, Downey, Hawaiian Gardens, La Mirada, Norwalk, and portions of Bell Gardens, Lakewood, Long Beach, Santa Fe Springs and South Gate. Cerritos College offers degrees and certificates in more than 180 areas of study in nine divisions. Annually, more than 1,200 students successfully complete their course of studies, and enrollment currently averages 23,000 students. Visit Cerritos College online at http://www.cerritos.edu/.
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