Officials in Kennesaw are on a mission to give their Cobb County town a makeover, one waistline at a time.
To that end, they’ve created Fit City Kennesaw, a program designed to help the town's 33,000 residents -- and even those from surrounding communities -- make positive changes toward healthier lifestyles. The comprehensive plan takes in several aspects, from reducing stress to starting an exercise regime.
The Fit City concept gained momentum when assistant city manager Jeff Drobney began running to lose weight. He was so successful that he began entering races and triathlons and eventually created a series of running competitions for the city.
“I wanted to give people an outlet to raise money for foundations in the city,” he said. “From there, I sat down with the mayor and (councilwoman) Cris Eaton Welsh, and we came up with this initiative to reach people who might not want to run. If we get people to walk or change their diet, or if we find one person with high blood pressure and it saves them from a stroke, then we’ll be successful.”
Welsh, who also has a chiropractic firm in Kennesaw, helped Drobney put the initiative together. They created a free kick-off event that will take place Feb. 4 at the Ben Robertson Community Center where several partner organizations will offer glucose and blood pressure tests, and experts will talk about nutrition, childhood obesity and diabetes. There will also be information on the city’s parks and recreation programs such as yoga, zumba, tai chi and walking groups.
“We also have people who will give testimonials about what they’ve done to change their lives, so the average person who is not fit might be inspired to do it, too,” said Drobney. “The goal is to encourage people to adopt a healthier lifestyle through exercise, nutrition and taking care of themselves mentally and spiritually. "
Pam Davis, Kennesaw’s marketing specialist, said the community would love to be known as the “fittest city in Cobb County.”
“We’ll do that by encouraging people to participate in all the things the city offers, and at the end of the year, we’ll ask them to come back and measure their success,” she said. “We want to motivate people to get out of their houses, be more active, improve their health, and we have the facilities to help people do that.”
The Feb. 4 event is not limited just to Kennesaw residents, said Drobney.
“We don’t care if they live in Acworth or unincorporated Cobb. We want the whole area to be fit. In fact, we’d like to use this as a model that we can break out in other cities across Cobb. It would be great to get the whole county to be fit.”
Information on the Fit City Kennesaw kickoff is online at www.kennesaw-ga.gov or by calling City Hall at 770-424-8274. /cq/ The Ben Robertson Community Center is located at 2753 Watts Drive, Kennesaw.
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