Phat times in Philly: City moves to lose weight

Campaign participants exercise together at the weigh-out

PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania (CNN) -- They're having a party in Philadelphia Tuesday, but the city's famous staples of hoagies, cheesesteaks, Tastykake snacks, and soft pretzels aren't on the menu.

The highlight of the shindig is a weigh-out, marking the last day of a challenge to see how well Philadelphians have fared in a citywide weight-loss program. The awareness campaign called "76 Tons of Fun" has been spearheaded by Mayor John Street, who has been obsessed with helping the city's residents lose weight.

A number of events have been scheduled around the weigh-out Tuesday -- including a walk led by the mayor, award presentations, and Philadelphia's Fun, Fit and Free Festival.

In January 2000, Men's Fitness magazine rated Philadelphia the fattest city in the country, and Street made the issue a priority, even hiring a health and fitness czar, Gwen Foster.

Earlier this year, the mayor urged Philadelphians to collectively lose 76 tons in 76 days, and the campaign gained international attention. Among the sponsors -- the Philadelphia 76ers. The program started in early February and the weigh-out day was extended to Tuesday to accommodate new registrants.

More than 25,800 residents registered to take Street's challenge to eat and drink more healthily, said the mayor's spokeswoman, Luz Cardenas.

A "76 Tons of Fun" participant steps up to the scale Tuesday

Participants Tuesday are trooping to "weigh-out stations" in the city to check how much weight they have lost during the period.

While Houston has been rated by the magazine as this year's fattest city, the mayor said health remains a major goal because Philadelphia residents are "too fat." Detroit is the second fattest city in this year's survey, and Philadelphia comes in third. In fact, Men's Fitness magazine Tuesday presented Street with a Fit City Achievement Award.

"We knew there were things that we could do," the mayor said, "and that we could create an environment where people were encouraged to exercise and to drink water and to moderate their eating and to exercise a degree of discipline and temperance over what we do. We knew that if we could do that, then we would be a better city and that our citizens would feel better and that we would be a healthier place to live."

Naomi Williams, a participant who says she lost a lot of weight, said "The city gave me that extra push, knowing that there were other people that were actually doing it. ... There were a lot of people who were inspired by my weight loss and who started to lose weight. And there was a camaraderie."

Street said weight loss is helpful in light of rising medical bills.

"This will ultimately lead to a reduction in our health care costs. It will improve the quality of life for those citizens. There are real good practical reasons why we ought to be doing this," he said.

Street points to "a generation of children," who are "inactive" and the many adults who are clinically obese or suffer from diabetes and hypertension.

"This is an epidemic. This is a huge, huge serious health problem for us, and this is a great way to help deal with the underlying causes of all of it," Street said.