Losers Are Winners in Newark Beth Israel Weight-Loss Challenge

Hundreds of people belonging to six Newark churches will be taking part in Newark Beth Israel Medical Center’s second-annual Walk for Wellness this Saturday, part of the hospital’s “Beth Church Challenge,” a semi-competitive program to get Newarkers to shed weight through healthy eating and exercise.

“It gives employees and community members that initial impetus to lose weight,” said Dr. John Brennan, president and CEO of Beth Israel. “Once they get in that routine they keep it up.”

Begun as a way to improve the health of Beth Israel employees, the Bethb Challenge has since grown to include the South Ward community where the hospital is based. For the last three months, participants -- including pastors as well as church members -- have been attending regular weigh-ins, have received nutritional advice and have been encouraged to exercise. The Colosseum Gym and the YMCA have partnered with the hospital in the effort.

“People are engaged. They want to come back and do it again,” said Barbara Mintz, assistant vice president of wellness at Beth Israel.

The program, which is offered a few times a year, has helped people of all ages, Mintz said, including two teenage siblings whose weight problems were affecting not just their physical but their mental well-being. By the end of the program, Mintz said, the brother had taken up basketball while his sister became a cheerleader.   

The challenge is just one component of the hospital’s approach to wellness. Brennan said Beth Israel has also partnered with a farmer’s market to provide fresh fruit and vegetables to the people of the South Ward as a way to address the shortage of stores in the area where people can purchase wholesome food. The hospital also eventually plans to grow its own produce in a greenhouse.

The Wellness Walk is being held in partnership with South Ward Councilman Ras J. Baraka.  The public is invited to join.  Registration begins at 7:30 a.m. and the race begins at 9 a.m.  The walk begins and ends at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center, located at 201 Lyons Ave. in Newark.  An awards ceremony for the healthiest church, with the greatest weight loss, will be announced at the conclusion of the walk.