(NAPSI)—Obesity is a serious health problem in the United States. More than one in three U.S. adults have obesity and that number increases to more than half—57 percent—among U.S. black women. Research has shown that excess weight may contribute to high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, kidney disease, heart disease and certain kinds of cancer.

To help address the problem of obesity, the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) has updated the program guide for the popular Sisters Together: Move More, Eat Better national health awareness program. It encourages black women to reach and maintain a healthy weight by being more physically active and making healthier food choices.

The NIDDK updated the Sisters Together program guide to include:

• Recent data regarding African American obesity rates

• Evidence-based strategies to promote regular physical activity and healthy food choices among black women

• Highlights from Sisters Together programs developed by different groups around the country

• Tips to create a budget to fund a program

• Information on how to grow and manage program interest using social media

• Steps to help evaluate and sustain a program

• A sample in-kind donation request letter and other forms.

The NIDDK encourages anyone who sees a need in his or her community to consider starting a Sisters Together program. The program guide is a free digital resource, available from the NIDDK website, that offers information on how to develop, promote, fund, evaluate and sustain a program. The guide includes sample forms, e-mails and social media posts that users can copy and modify to suit their specific needs. While the resources are aimed at black women ages 18 and older, they can be adapted to promote the “move more, eat better” message among women, youths or men of any age, race, ethnicity or community.

Sisters Together began in 1994 as a pilot program conducted by the NIDDK’s Weight-control Information Network (WIN) and several partners in Boston. Based on the success of the pilot program, WIN created the program guide and other resources to support the development of local Sisters Together programs nationwide. Over the past 20 years, local groups across the country have formed partnerships with health centers, local media, recreation centers and other groups to start new Sisters Together programs.

Learn More

For further information, visit

www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/weight-management/sisters-together-program-guide.

 “To help combat obesity and increase physical activity, especially among black women, the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases created the Sisters Together: Move More, Eat Better national health awareness program. http://bit.ly/2O9vEJh”

On the Net:North American Precis Syndicate, Inc.(NAPSI)