Best Weigh is a low-cost, weight management system designed to be conducted in Seventh-day Adventist Churches. The program meets once a week for 10 weeks.
It is overtly evangelistic in that participants are introduced to God as the most dependable agent for behavior change. They are assigned Bible readings for each day of the 10 week program and are encouraged to pray three times a day.
The evangelistic impact is enhanced by spending half the time in each program in small groups. Two church members facilitate each group. This creates a friendship interface between the church and the public not normally found in many evangelistic endeavours.
All the resources needed to conduct a Best Weigh is on a single USB Jump drive or are downloadable at SDAEvangelism.Health. This all-in-one resource is offered to readers of this Blog for FREE. The resources include a Director’s Manual describing the steps in organizing a Best Weigh Program. There is a Helpers Guide to make small group facilitation by church members simple and easy. Each participant gets a Colorful Best Weigh Workbook which will contain all 10 handouts covering the nutritional lecture for that night. There are 10 PowerPoint presentations with notes for each slide to assist those unfamiliar with the scientific data. There is a folder with all the forms needed such as the registration form, signage, etc.
Best Weigh is scientifically sound and is regularly reviewed by medical and nutritional experts. Best Weigh is road tested. It was developed in 1974 by Elvin Adams, MD, MPH, formerly Assistant Health Ministries Director of the General Conference Health Ministries Department. Dr. Adams is board certified in Internal Medicine and has introduced Best Weigh to several countries.
The leadership of Best Weigh has been passed to Dr. Eric Nelson who is the International Director of Best Weigh. Nelson is board certified in Colon and Rectal Surgery and has conducted numerous Best Weigh programs in his local church. He finds that this program is the best health evangelism program ever tried and tends to lead to ongoing participation in other church activities, Bible studies, and baptisms. Outcomes from the Best Weigh program are optimized when following the program a “Health Celebration Sabbath” church service focuses on the health and wellbeing of the participants. Frequently they are willing to give reports regarding the program that are inspiring for the congregation and demonstrate the effectiveness of the spiritual behaviour change advocated at Best Weigh.
For any questions regarding Best Weigh or to receive your own copy of this program please contact Eric Nelson through the website SDAEvangelism.Health.
Eric Nelson, MD, FACS, FASCRS, grew up in Greeneville, TN to physician parents who instilled a love for all things medical. He completed his BS in music at SAU in 2002, his MD degree at LLU in 2006, and then completed a surgery residency at UC Davis in Sacramento, CA, finishing in 2012. He then moved back to TN, completing a Colon and Rectal Surgery fellowship at UTC in 2013, and now is an Asst Professor of Surgery at University of TN, Chattanooga and Associate Program Director. During his time in Loma Linda, Eric and hiw wife Rachel were very involved in health outreach. They started the first medical student-led lifestyle change program, eventually leading to the formation of a new residency, the “Lifestyle Medicine Residency” at LLU. Eric and Rachel’s interests include medical education, health outreach, church planting, and spending time outdoors with their children Amy, and Michael. Musical endeavors, camping and kayaking on the Ocoee are frequent family activities.
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