McALLEN — The city of McAllen has once again won the It’s Time Texas challenge in the Large City category, making that six times in a row.
In honor of this accomplishment, It’s Time Texas and the city hosted a ceremony Friday morning to recognize city workers who help contribute to the city’s success.
It’s of particular significance for a community routinely ranked among the most overweight in the nation by WalletHub, a personal finances website.
According to Selene Guerrero, the regional director for It’s Time Texas in South Texas, the goal of the statewide nonprofit organization is to provide health education, resources and support to promote healthier lifestyles.
With that goal in mind, they’ve created a collaborative effort with cities across the state of Texas to help combat preventable chronic diseases such as obesity.
Those who participate in the challenge keep track of their health through things such as how much water they drink per day, how much sleep they get, meditation time, eating habits, and physical fitness. “Meditation was actually the highest health activity logged this year,” Guerrero said. “Mental and physical health is all one and it makes a better person overall.”
This year the city of McAllen logged a total of 5,923,400 points with 713,700 points accumulated by city employees.
The city of McAllen has once again won the It’s Time Texas challenge in the Large City category, making that six times in a row.
Such is the community’s successful showing in the annual competition that the South Texas region even accounts for half of all who participate.
Of 22,000 participants across Texas in this contest, 11,000 hail from the Rio Grande Valley.
“We have one life, we got to live it well and healthy,” said McAllen Mayor Javier Villalobos.
