If your New Year’s resolution is to lose weight, here’s your chance to stick to it and have some encouragement from your friends along the way.

UAB Hospital is participating with other Alabama hospitals and the Alabama Department of Public Health in an eight-week weight-loss campaign called Scale Back Alabama. The goal of the program is to help Alabamians lose a total of 10 million pounds by March.

“Scale Back Alabama is a weight-loss initiative designed to encourage people to think about becoming healthier,” says Bonnie Sanderson, Ph.D., manager of UAB’s cardio-pulmonary rehabilitation facility.

“We are participating in this campaign because we see the results of obesity every day in our patients in terms of higher blood pressure, increased diabetes, depression and many other illnesses that can be directly tied to obesity,” she said.

The UAB Hospital program includes weight-loss information and a healthy competition among teams of three to five hospital employees who hold each other accountable for sticking to healthy eating and exercise routines.

Teams will have weekly weigh-ins for the eight-week competition, with the initial benchmark weigh-in scheduled for Monday, Jan. 22. The final weigh-in is set for March 19. On April 2, the team with the greatest percentage of weight loss will be declared the winner. A cash prize of $1,000 per team member (maximum of five people per team) is being offered by Barber Dairies.

As always, Sanderson recommends that you check with your health-care provider before beginning a weight-loss or exercise program.

For more information on how you can participate in Scale Back Alabama as a UAB  Hospital employee, and for weigh-in locations within the hospital, contact Missy Johnson at 975-0605, mjohnson@cardmail.dom.uab.edu and visit www.scalebackalabama.com today.