Let’s face it. We eat too much. We eat the wrong things. We drive when we should walk. We let the exercise equipment collect dust in the corner. And we’re killing ourselves in the process. Obesity is a fact of life for too many residents of Southeast Kansas – and our nation as a whole.

Southeast Kansas has some of the worst health conditions in the state of Kansas. Yet much of what drives this is behavioral – which means we can turn this around.

The Southeast Kansas Meltdown is a six-week regional challenge designed to improve the health and well-being of residents of Allen, Bourbon, Crawford, Neosho, Wilson, and Woodson counties. Open to anyone age 18 and older, the SEK Meltdown aims to help people become more active and make healthier choices about what they eat and drink.

Too often Southeast Kansas counties compete against each other. The SEK Meltdown is an opportunity for residents of the six counties to compete, but in a positive way. During the six-week program, participants will join their neighbors in walking clubs, Zumba classes, line dancing, nutrition and meal-planning classes, and physical fitness instruction. Participants can track their progress through secure logins at www.sekmeltdown.com and are welcome to participate in any SEK Meltdown event in any of the six counties.

The SEK Meltdown is a project of Thrive Southeast Kansas and the Southeast Kansas Regional Health Initiative, which were created to address the chronic health issues that affect the quality of life in the region.

For more information, see www.thrivesek.org, call Thrive at (620) 365-8128 or e-mail info@thriveallencounty.org.