50,000 pounds closer to goal, city diet site shows ‘shift'

By Bryan Dean

Published: March 25, 2008

Oklahoma City has lost 50,000 pounds since New Year's Day.

That leaves 950,000 more to achieve Mayor Mick Cornett's goal of a million pounds lost. Cornett set the goal Dec. 31 when he announced a new Web site aimed at fighting the city's obesity problem.

The campaign, which brought national media attention including an appearance on the syndicated talk show "Ellen,” encourages city residents to sign up at thiscity

isgoingonadiet.com and track their weight loss, with the ultimate goal of a million pounds lost.

Monday morning, the Web site's counter crossed the 50,000 pound barrier. More than 17,000 people have registered. Whether or not the site ever reaches a million pounds, Cornett said the campaign's true aim is already being achieved.

"There has been a fundamental shift in our attention to obesity,” Cornett said.

His call for the entire city to go on a diet struck a chord with national media as a unique approach to fighting the nation's obesity problems.

"It's a positive health story about Oklahoma, and we don't have a whole lot of those,” Cornett said.

The Web site continues to track the city's weight loss, but Cornett said the effort needs to stay front-of-mind with the public or it will fail.

"I don't think we should ever let up,” he said. "Just as diets can become less effective over time, public health efforts become less effective over time.”

City officials are looking for volunteers who have used the Web site to help them lose weight, with a news conference planned early next month to tell some of the site's success stories.

Cornett encouraged anyone who has been dieting to go to the site and track their losses, which can be entered retroactively.

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