Thousands in Centre County Set to Begin Nutrition Challenge

For 28 days, beginning Feb. 1, residents of Centre County have been issued a healthy challenge. And, one lucky and fit person, along with his or her family, may be headed south for putting in the effort.

At the Jan. 24 meeting of the Centre County Board of Supervisors, Kym Burke, co-owner of One on One Fitness in State College, explained that since the Nutrition Habit Challenge program kicked off to the public in 2014, more than 6,300 people have participated, including 720 in 2014, 2,214 in 2015 and 3,385 last year. Burke said, so far this year, more than 2,000 people have registered, and she expects more to sign on by Wednesday, Feb. 1.

“The objective of the program is to motivate and inspire our community to take personal to take personal responsibility for improving their health habits,” Burke told the Centre County Gazette. “We will accomplish this by suggesting each participant make a small change to their diet, their ‘nutritional commitment’ and make them eligible for prizes if they are successful for 25 out of 28 days.”
One lucky winner will receive an all-expense paid trip for four to Disney World in Florida.

In addition to the personal benefits of the program, the Nutrition Habit Challenge also raises money for two local nonprofit groups. To date, the program has donated $23,000 to the Youth Service Bureau and Centre Volunteers in Medicine.

Participation is easy. Those wishing to participate are encouraged to visit www.nutritionhabitchallenge.com and register for free. The participants then must choose nutritional behaviors they commit to changing, and they must be significant enough to positively impact their health, but manageable enough that they can be successful for each day of the 28-day challenge. If they are successful for 25 of those 28 days, they will be eligible to win the Disney trip.

“It’s free and easy to sign up and participate, so why shouldn’t people sign up?” asked Burke. “I think it’s a great way to promote personal health, as well as promote health for your entire family, and more so, for the entire community.”

Burke said she and her husband, Bruce Burke, co-owner of One on One Fitness, came up with the idea for the program. Initially, it involved only members of One on One. In 2014, the couple decided to open it up to residents of the entire county.

“We created the NHC to educate and inspire members of our community to make better choices, not only with their diets, by also their exercise habits and lifestyle choices,” said Bruce Burke. “We have created a platform to do that, but we need thousands of participants in order to succeed in truly impacting our community’s health. If we have 10,000 participants and 20 percent of them have lasting, meaningful change, we have helped 2,000 people live healthier lives. That is the end game.”

Last year, more than 200 families participated in the challenge, which is a 100 percent increase from 2014. Thirty-five percent of those who participated were successful in meeting their challenge. A total of 93 organizations participated in the challenge last year, as well as all five Centre County school districts.

Last year, Mandy Chaplain successfully completed the challenge and won the trip to Disney, which is sponsored by One on One Fitness, Otto’s and Kish Bank.

Also last year, the group added a challenge within a challenge with the “Centre County School Challenge.” Burke said all five school districts participated last year and Bald Eagle Area School District was the winner of the competition. For a reward, BEA was awarded $500 for the school’s wellness committee, a traveling banner to display in the school and two copies of “FUNdamentals of Fitness,” a fitness-based physical education curriculum co-written by local authors Ryan Burke and Penn State professor Allison Weimer.