Orangeburg Deltas engage community in initiative to curb obesity

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The Orangeburg Alumni Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc. has continued to fulfill its historic service creed by tackling adult and childhood obesity with a community-wide weight-loss initiative.

Since January, the sorority has engaged individuals in Orangeburg and Calhoun counties in a weight-loss challenge that culminated with a final weigh-in March 25 at the Orangeburg Area Development Center.

First-, second- and third-place awards were given to the adult who lost the most weight and to those who had lost the most inches from their waists. Adults were able to get their children involved, as well, with all of them receiving awards for participating in working to make their lifestyles healthier.

“Delta Sigma Theta has done healthy lifestyle challenges, but what we wanted to do was make children a part of what we were doing,” said Tara Mack, chairwoman of the sorority’s wellness committee. “I think the youngest child we have is 6 years old, and the oldest is about 12 years old. We wanted to emphasize and look at child obesity because it’s a large problem happening all over America, especially in rural communities.

“We started with a January kickoff, and at that time, we had vendors to come out and provide information to the participants wanting to sign up. By signing up, they did the initial weigh-in and got their (body mass index) and waist measurements taken. We had the Regional Medical Center doing screenings, including blood pressure and cholesterol checks, and a few others out at the Orangeburg Area Development Center.”

Nutrition and exercise classes were also held. Carl Dickson, owner of New Image Personal Training and Fitness Center in Orangeburg, said he explained several tenets of healthy living, including how to balance meals and get in the right amount of daily exercise.

“I did explain about eating at least three meals and two snacks a day. Snacks in between meals prevents you from being so hungry when it’s time for meals. It also helps you to reach the calories that you need,” said Dickson, who urged attendees to choose low-fat as opposed to fried foods.

“You can eat fried food, just not as much, maybe once or twice a month,” he said. “Definitely increase the amount of vegetables and fruits that are eaten. It helps to give a person more fiber, which makes you more regular and makes your digestive system work a whole lot better.”

Dickson also stressed drinking more water and less tea and sugary sodas, as well as working out at least four days a week for 45 minutes to an hour.

“You can do cardio for at least 20 minutes with resistance training. I talked to them about working out, but not working out just to lose weight. Even at your desired weight, you need to exercise to stay healthy. When you stop, you get back to the same place you were,” Dickson said. “Look at the overall picture. Proper diet along with proper exercise is going to give you proper health. There’s no doubt about that. I got a really good response. The crowd was very receptive.”

Orangeburg resident Marsha Shields, 36, and her 12-year-old son, Naquan, were among the participants who have learned to change their eating and exercise habits. Shields said she has also changed her cooking habits.

“I used to add sugar to everything. I just had fried foods and cooked a lot of processed and frozen foods,” Shields said. “I’m cooking using more fresh vegetables. I used to cook late at night, too, and drank juice and soda. I don’t buy juice or soda anymore, but water and Crystal Light.

“There are no chips, no cookies — all we have is fruit. Instead of buying ice cream, I buy yogurt,” added Shields, whose son tipped the scales at 220 pounds at his heaviest.

Naquan, who is now down to 208 pounds, said he used to eat a lot of “sweets” and other high-calorie foods filled with sugar and salt.

“I learned how to eat right and exercise more. I learned that it helps the body,” said Naquan, who is also riding his bike, playing basketball and working out with his mother.

“I can’t play basketball well, but we play together,” Shields said. “His weight is coming off and so is mine. He really looks at everything he eats. We’re still going to keep up a lot of the things that we’ve learned. I try to make it something for the whole family, my husband included. I don’t single Naquan out.”

Mack said the program was launched not to emphasize pounds, but prevention, especially for children.

“We just wanted to offer them that chance and engage them in exercise and doing something,” she said.

Rosemary Hickman is president of the Orangeburg Alumni Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc.

“This is the second year that we have sponsored this particular program. We have focused on wellness in our chapter for several years now because it’s part of our national initiative on healthy lifestyles. This year we’re targeting the family and the children in an effort to raise awareness of the importance and benefits of lifestyle changes,” Hickman said.

“Diabetes, heart disease and high blood pressure — all those illnesses are directly tied to obesity. If we can make a dent in that or make an impact on just one person’s life, then I think we could consider that the program has been successful.”

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