Ararat: The Australian town that declared war on fat, and is winning

ITS population proved to be perfect fodder for reality TV, but what happened when the cameras stopped rolling in this famously obese town?

IT was named one of the most obese towns in the country, and its population proved to be perfect fodder for a reality TV show.

But when The Biggest Loser’s cameras stopped rolling, even bigger things started to happen in the Victorian town of Ararat.

Ararat featured in the Channel Ten show this year due to its high rate of obesity. But did the regional town ultimately manage to win the battle of the bulge, or did it revert back to its old habits?

4 Corners reporter Geoff Thompson has visited the town, which is not only winning the war on obesity, but setting an example for the rest of the county.

The Biggest Loser highlighted one small group of residents, who were trying to shed excess kilos by doing vigorous exercise, while being offered the chance to change their diet.

But with support of the Ararat Council, winnings from the show were then used to fund an Active 8 program to extend a fitness and health regime to others in the community.

What happened next surprised everyone, as the whole community took up the challenge, with hundreds of residents now wearing pedometers to record their movements each day. And all are paying it forward by helping others to achieve the same results.

Thompson said the intervention program results in the rest of the community were surprising, and had groundbreaking implications for government, health officials and the rest of Australia.

He said it showed what could happen when a whole community took charge of an issue by helping each other and taking personal responsibility for their own health.

Ararat worker Deb Slorach is one of the guinea pigs enlisted in the council’s Biggest Loser-inspired experiment — and for her, the program has been a “life saver”.

The mother of four, who admits to having tried every diet in the book, said she couldn’t bring herself to apply to be on the TV show, but being part of Active 8 had changed her life.

Mrs Slorach said she had always been an emotional eater, but after completing the 12-week program, she’d lost more than 20kg and had a new lease on life. Now she wants to bring the program to her own hometown of Stawell.

“It’s been just incredible,” the 54-year-old told news.com.au.

“Before this started I felt 80 years old and struggled to do even basic things, but this has been my lifeline.”

Mrs Slorach said having a husband with MS means she needs to be physically and mentally healthy, and the program has given her a massive confidence boost.

She added that while The Biggest Loser was a competition, Active 8 isn’t, and it has led the whole community to work together, rather than against each other to win.

“My husband blows me away now with all his compliments,” she said of “the new Deb”.

“And even strangers will stop me in the supermarket and mention how well I’m doing after seeing pictures of me in the local paper.

“Now I want to pay it forward and have it happen here in Stawell. I really think this has the potential to work across Australia, people just need the support,” she said.

She added that having three grandchildren also means she wants to set a healthy example to the next generation, and now that she’s taken the first step in her weight loss journey, there is no way she’s going back.

“I just needed to take that first step,” she said. “Now I have it’s like a ripple which keeps getting bigger.

“I just hope people realise it’s achievable.”

Her efforts were rewarded on the weekend when an Active 8 finale gala was held honouring those who were making a massive difference.

But Deb’s story isn’t the only one that has the town talking.

Ararat’s Mayor, Paul Hooper, and the council’s Community Development manager, Angela Hunt, are now collecting the health data of the whole town. Activity data is also collected by pedometers, now worn by 1200 of Ararat’s 8000 people.

Thompson said the town had used its winnings from the show to create a program which showed just how important a role environment and community have on people’s ability to lose weight.

“People’s general attitude is it’s amazing and they feel invigorated and empowered,” he told news.com.au.

ABC reporter Geoff Thompson visited Ararat to catch up with how the town was doing once The Biggest Loser cameras stopped rolling.

“Ararat has shown it’s possible a whole community can turn things around by creating personal responsibility.”

He said that prior to the show being filmed, many people in the town didn’t realise how obese they actually were.

“Obesity was completely normalised,” he said.

“Studies have shown whether people are obese or not were determined by the friends they had, as it became normal.”

Thompson also examines the role the food industry and marketing power play in the obesity crisis.

Fat Chance, reported by Geoff Thompson, goes to air tonight at 8.30pm on ABC and replayed on Tuesday, 14th October at 11.00am and 11.35pm. It can also be seen on ABC News 24 on Saturday at 8.00pm.