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SOUTH DAKOTA DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Tuesday, December 28, 2010
CONTACT: Kristin Biskeborn, (605) 734-4551
Start the New Year with “Make Calories Count” healthy challenge
PIERRE, S.D. – If eating a healthier diet is one of your New Year’s resolutions, the latest online challenge from the Healthy South Dakota Initiative can help. The Make Calories Count challenge runs January 15 through February 15 and is intended to help participants improve the food choices they make.
“Making major changes to your diet can seem overwhelming but the reality is there are many small steps each one of us can take that could make a big difference over time,” said Kristin Biskeborn (BIS’-kah-born), State Nutritionist for the South Dakota Department of Health. “For example, cutting out one can of soda each day or using mustard rather than regular mayonnaise on a sandwich are easy habits to pick up that can cut 100 calories from your diet.”
People can join the Make Calories Count challenge as individuals or participate in teams by registering now at www.HealthySD.gov. The site includes a list of 100 ways to decrease 100 calories – participants can earn one point per day for each behavior on the list they practice.
As an incentive to help make healthy food choices, each person who participates in the challenge will receive the Stop & Go Fast Food Nutrition Guide. The guide uses the colors of the stop light to help individuals choose foods that lean toward or away from good health. It contains more than 3,500 fast foods from 68 different restaurants. At the end of the challenge, 10 randomly selected participants will receive a final prize.
To sign up or to learn more about the challenge, go to www.HealthySD.gov or call the department’s Office of Health Promotion at 605-773-3737.
The Healthy South Dakota website and its regular challenges are part of the department’s Health 2020 objective to help South Dakotans be physically active, eat healthy, and live healthier lives.
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