Dr. Brad Thorpe

There's a lot of truth to the saying, "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure", especially when it comes to the challenges of healthy living. A new program that was launched in Moose Jaw Tuesday is looking to spend a few dollars up front to save thousands down the road.

The Healthy Weights Initiative will see 1,000 people in our city take part in a pilot project that will give them the the opportunity to reduce weight and improve their lifestyle, free of charge. The program offers education, nutrition, fitness, and social support in order to fight back against the growing obesity problem in our country.

Moose Jaw in particular is getting heavier each year. Statistics Canada reported that more than 63% of our city's adults were overweight in 2013, with about 5,000 considered to be obese.

The program brings together health care professionals along with nutritionists and private businesses to try and get people to take a positive step towards a healthy lifestyle. Offering the services for free is helping to knock aside the financial barrier that some people experience while trying to live better.

"It's often the poor person who can't afford to spend the extra money to buy the healthy food, can't afford to go to they gym, or to a workout or to yoga." said Dr. Brad Thorpe. "The fact that this initiative is providing these services free to the community, I think it's absolutely incredible and that means it's open to everybody."

Those who have a body mass index above 30 qualify for the initiative and can get started through a doctor's referral. The program will include group work out classes as well as nutrition and motivational advice. You can click here to do a basic BMI test to see if you might qualify for the program.

"In the past, we're all trained to focus on treating illness and that's what I call cure. As we find a lot of these diseases are related to conditions such as obesity, being overweight, and lifestyle... if we can make those changes ourselves, we can save a lot of dollars for the health care system and prevent ourselves from getting worse or ill as we get older."

For more on the Tuesday announcement check out "New Program to Support Healthy Weight Initiatives" found here on DiscoverMooseJaw.com.