LYNWOOD — As cities across the state find themselves trimming the fat off their budgets to make ends meet, the City Council last week voted 4-0 to trim excess in a whole different way, without cutting more than the $6.5 million they’ve already slashed from the city’s budget.

The council voted to implement the Community Weight Loss Challenge. Mirroring a successful program in Long Beach, the program aims to promote fitness, fun and healthy lifestyles among residents.

Organized by the Recreation and Community Services Department, with a possible partnership with St. Francis Medical Center, the program will officially begin Oct. 3 at the new Yvonne Burke/John D. Ham Park.

It will be a 12-week contest to encourage participants to lose weight, follow proper nutrition guides and observe better eating habits.

The city’s goal is to have participants lose a combined total of 2,000 pounds. It will be open to residents over 18 years of age.

According to City Manager Roger Haley, the city has already enlisted more than 100 participants. Haley has signed up, along with Mayor Maria Santillan and Mayor Pro Tem Aide Castro.

Participants must register as a four-person team. Individuals who register alone will be assigned a team. Participants must pay a flat fee of $24 to register, or if they want to participate by week, it will cost $8 for the initial signup, plus $2 at each weigh-in every Wednesday and Saturday for 12 weeks.

The weigh-in will be skipped Thanksgiving week.

The team that loses the most weight will win the top prize of $4,000 to split among themselves. A second prize of $1,000 will go to the individual who loses the most weight.

When asked if he was going to take part in the challenge, Haley said the questions were getting too personal.

“You know that’s a sensitive topic,” Haley joked. “Yeah, I can spare a few pounds. It’s a very well intentioned program, that I think will bring the community together in a fun and healthy way.”

While the program may receive some criticism, or be defined as a waste of funds, Haley assures those individuals that the funds for the prizes have come from fundraisers, participants’ entry fees, and from private donations from businesses who see the challenge as a way of uniting the community.

Every four-member team will also have to find a name to call themselves.

Santillan’s and Castro’s team, which includes Redevelopment Director Sarah Magana-Withers and Deputy Director Olivia Segura, will be called “Dangerous Curves.”

“The ultimate goal of this challenge is to lose some weight and have fun in the process,” Santillan said.

The challenge also will give residents the opportunity to visit the new Yvonne Burke/John D. Ham Park, which features several fitness stations and a walkway that goes around the entire park.

The mayor, who cites the opening of the new park as one of her proudest moments as a member of the City Council, said she loves driving past the park every day just to see how much people are enjoying it.

“Every day it’s packed with people,” she said. “[The park] was a long time in the making, because we wanted to get it right.” From what she can tell, the fun at the park hasn’t stopped since its opening.

While childhood obesity has increased significantly throughout the general population, children from minority communities have been disproportionately affected. Statistics show that sharply higher rates of obesity have occurred among Latino, African-American and Native American children and adolescents, according to the Leadership for Healthy Communities Web site.

“American kids spend an average of four to five hours per day on ‘screen time’ — watching TV, playing video games or using a computer. As a result, youth engage in less physical activity and they are also exposed to more fast-food and sugary beverage advertisements,” the Web site said. “Many aspects of the social, cultural and socioeconomic environments influence how children perceive of healthy eating and active living.”

As a member of the City Council, Santillan attends a lot of games in the city, including baseball and soccer opening days. To her surprise, she said, a lot of the kids on the teams are overweight.

She said she is glad that the contest is only for adults, because at the end of the day, eating right begins with parents and “our eating habits,” because it isn’t the kids who are driving themselves through drive-thrus. “It’s the parents, so this is our chance to change that.”

Ultimately, whether one wins the grand prize or not, said Haley, “We all win if we all shed a few pounds and become healthier. … It will be a fun event, people will have to make up names for their teams, and encourage each other … and it will all be in good fun to help each other live healthier.”