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Interview with Lee Labrada

Aired January 03, 2003 - 14:46   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Houston, Texas hasn't been able to shed its image or, apparently, any pounds. It is named the nation's fattest city by "Men's Fitness" magazine for the third straight year.
Now, last year, the city appointed former Mr. Universe Lee Labrada as it's fitness czar. He is supposed to get folks to move more and eat less. He joins us now with a look at how it's going, and we are going to talk also about the Web site they have up also -- hi Lee, good to see you.

LEE LABRADA, FITNESS CZAR, HOUSTON: Good to see you too. How are you?

PHILLIPS: All right -- I have got to know -- well, feeling not so much in shape after I have seen your Web site, but I have got to know, how are you inspiring a city? That has got to be a pretty big task.

LABRADA: Well, I believe in leading from the front, and so does Mayor Lee Brown, and that's why we instituted the Get Lean Houston program in June. And the program is a comprehensive program to raise awareness of the need for exercise and nutrition so that people can get in shape and stay healthy.

PHILLIPS: All right. Now, we put together this report card and this is what the magazine had. The Blubber Belt -- Houston's report card. Exercise, sports participation an F, junk food D plus, alcohol C minus, air quality F, water D, climate C, parks D plus. Oh my goodness. What's going on, Lee?

LABRADA: Well, some of the factors on which they graded the cities we have to take issue with. Some of the things like climate, geography, drive time, air quality, water quality, these are really dubious measures of how fat or how fit a city really is.

I prefer to look at federal data such as that compiled by the CDC. A recent study by the CDC surveyed 185,000 Americans in 55 major metropolitan areas to determine the number of adults that were overweight or obese. Houston wasn't even in the top ten.

PHILLIPS: Well, how do you -- I mean, what kind of incentives are you putting into place? I mean, it is hard to get going and want to exercise and get into shape, and living in Texas -- come on, you have got great fajitas, you got a lot of good beer -- come on, Lee.

LABRADA: Well, that is right. We have got great food. In fact, we have got more restaurants per capita than any other city in the nation, so we are working with the Houston Restaurant Association. We have got over 50 restaurants on board to develop light fare menu items. We have a diet that we are working on with two pediatric obesity experts that we will be rolling out next year, and we have the city's first fat drive. We are challenging Houstonians to pledge half a million pounds of fat in 2003.

PHILLIPS: All right. We are going to bring up your Web site, talk about this for a minute. I also understand your mayor lost 19 pounds. What inspired him? Was it you?

LABRADA: Well, I think, really, it is that he wants to lead from the front, and by losing this weight and serving as a model for all of our citizens, that really sets a good example.

PHILLIPS: So what can you find on this Web site? Let's say we don't even live in Houston. What can we learn from this?

LABRADA: Well, anyone can access the Get Lean Houston Web site. I would encourage them to do so. We have a 12-week nutritional program that is comprehensive in nature, and is available in both English and Spanish and can be downloaded by anybody.

PHILLIPS: All right. Lee Labrada, we will be checking "Men's Fitness" magazine next year to see how your city does, OK?

LABRADA: Thank you so much.

PHILLIPS: All right. Good luck. Thanks for your time.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired January 3, 2003 - 14:46   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Houston, Texas hasn't been able to shed its image or, apparently, any pounds. It is named the nation's fattest city by "Men's Fitness" magazine for the third straight year.
Now, last year, the city appointed former Mr. Universe Lee Labrada as it's fitness czar. He is supposed to get folks to move more and eat less. He joins us now with a look at how it's going, and we are going to talk also about the Web site they have up also -- hi Lee, good to see you.

LEE LABRADA, FITNESS CZAR, HOUSTON: Good to see you too. How are you?

PHILLIPS: All right -- I have got to know -- well, feeling not so much in shape after I have seen your Web site, but I have got to know, how are you inspiring a city? That has got to be a pretty big task.

LABRADA: Well, I believe in leading from the front, and so does Mayor Lee Brown, and that's why we instituted the Get Lean Houston program in June. And the program is a comprehensive program to raise awareness of the need for exercise and nutrition so that people can get in shape and stay healthy.

PHILLIPS: All right. Now, we put together this report card and this is what the magazine had. The Blubber Belt -- Houston's report card. Exercise, sports participation an F, junk food D plus, alcohol C minus, air quality F, water D, climate C, parks D plus. Oh my goodness. What's going on, Lee?

LABRADA: Well, some of the factors on which they graded the cities we have to take issue with. Some of the things like climate, geography, drive time, air quality, water quality, these are really dubious measures of how fat or how fit a city really is.

I prefer to look at federal data such as that compiled by the CDC. A recent study by the CDC surveyed 185,000 Americans in 55 major metropolitan areas to determine the number of adults that were overweight or obese. Houston wasn't even in the top ten.

PHILLIPS: Well, how do you -- I mean, what kind of incentives are you putting into place? I mean, it is hard to get going and want to exercise and get into shape, and living in Texas -- come on, you have got great fajitas, you got a lot of good beer -- come on, Lee.

LABRADA: Well, that is right. We have got great food. In fact, we have got more restaurants per capita than any other city in the nation, so we are working with the Houston Restaurant Association. We have got over 50 restaurants on board to develop light fare menu items. We have a diet that we are working on with two pediatric obesity experts that we will be rolling out next year, and we have the city's first fat drive. We are challenging Houstonians to pledge half a million pounds of fat in 2003.

PHILLIPS: All right. We are going to bring up your Web site, talk about this for a minute. I also understand your mayor lost 19 pounds. What inspired him? Was it you?

LABRADA: Well, I think, really, it is that he wants to lead from the front, and by losing this weight and serving as a model for all of our citizens, that really sets a good example.

PHILLIPS: So what can you find on this Web site? Let's say we don't even live in Houston. What can we learn from this?

LABRADA: Well, anyone can access the Get Lean Houston Web site. I would encourage them to do so. We have a 12-week nutritional program that is comprehensive in nature, and is available in both English and Spanish and can be downloaded by anybody.

PHILLIPS: All right. Lee Labrada, we will be checking "Men's Fitness" magazine next year to see how your city does, OK?

LABRADA: Thank you so much.

PHILLIPS: All right. Good luck. Thanks for your time.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com