Fort Worth celebrates Health Challenge victory over Des Moines

Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price accepted the victor’s trophy Tuesday for the city’s win over Des Moines, Iowa, in FitWorth’s 10-Week Health Challenge, which ended April 4.

Doug Reichardt of Iowa’s Healthy State Initiative presented the trophy during the City Council meeting, acknowledging Fort Worth’s designation as "Wellness Capital." 

"This win confirms something we already knew – Fort Worth is a healthy city that is passionate about promoting active lifestyles," Mayor Price said. "If our citizens are healthy, our city will thrive. If our workforce is healthy, business will succeed."

Councilmember Dennis Shingleton also presented the Mayor’s Trophy to UNT Health Science Center, the Fort Worth organization with the most tracked minutes of activity among local corporations competing in the challenge. 

UNTHSC fielded 55 teams for a total of 382 participants. Their total weight lost was 292 pounds, and their total recorded minutes of activity was 830,077.

Jean Tips, Vice President of Communications and Marketing, along with "Team Crunchers," the team logging the most activity of the 55 teams, accepted the trophy.

Fitness Challege UNTHSC TeamAlthough Iowa had the most active participants, the Health Challenge victor was judged on the most average daily activity per participant. Fort Worth led with 2,070 participants, clocking 1,603 minutes of activity per participant. Iowa’s 10,908 participants logged 1,512 minutes of activity per participant. 

Fort Worth also beat Iowa on average pounds lost per person. Fort Worth’s participants lost a total of 7,375 pounds, for an average of 3.5 pounds per participant. Iowa’s participants lost a total of 4,999 pounds, for an average of .45 pounds per participant.

The FitWorth challenge was made possible by numerous community partners, including Think Finance, Fort Worth Bike Share, Calamity Gym, Komen 5K, Luke’s Locker, Albertson’s, Downtown Fort Worth Inc., Sundance Square and all area Chambers of Commerce.

FitWorth is a family-focused initiative of Mayor Betsy Price and the Fort Worth City Council, launched in September 2012 to address the growing trend of childhood obesity in the city.

Advisory Board members include representatives from Aetna, Albertson’s, Cook Children’s Healthcare Network, Cowtown Marathon, Fort Worth ISD, Fort Worth City Council, Live Healthy America, Oncor, Texas Health Resources and UNTHSC. Initial funding was provided by Oncor. 

For more information, visit www.fwtexas.org.

Recent News

Abe Clark
  • Research
|Mar 28, 2024

Dr. Abe Clark honored with international research award

Abbot “Abe” Clark, PhD, FARVO, FAAO, regents professor of pharmacology and neuroscience in the School of Biomedical Sciences at The University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth, has received the International Society for Eye Research 2024 Ernst H. Bárány Prize.   The awar...
Processed With Lensa With Pt12 Filter
  • Research
|Mar 28, 2024

Dr. Steven Romero receives American Physiological Society award for excellence in research

Dr. Steven Romero, associate professor of Physiology and Anatomy at the School of Biomedical Sciences at The University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth, was named the 2024 Henry Pickering Bowditch Award Lecturer by the American Physiological Society. The lectureship is awarded to ...
Screenshot 2024 03 28 At 8.50.12 am
  • Our People
|Mar 28, 2024

Physical therapy student lands prestigious role in national organization

When Jonathan Hansen was an undergraduate intern at Texas Health Arlington Memorial Hospital, he encountered a man who had just suffered a stroke. The patient’s right side was completely paralyzed. Hansen, now a first-year student in The University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Wort...
Jackie In Dc
  • Our People
|Mar 27, 2024

Personalized Health and Well-Being student repays generosity through advocacy

In 2019, The University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth student Jacqueline Green said she felt hopeless. She became pregnant while experiencing hard financial times, and she didn’t have insurance. Compounding her stress was terrible grief. Her mother-in-law suddenly passed away,...