CLEMEN, Jane 1951(?)–

PERSONAL: Born c. 1951. Education: Holds an R.D. and L.D.

ADDRESSES: Office—Mercy Medical Center, 1111 3rd St. SW, Dyersville, IA 52040. Agent—c/o Author Mail, Sourcebooks, Inc., 1935 Brookdale Rd., Ste. 139, Naperville, IL 60563.

CAREER: Mercy Medical Center, Dyersville, IA, 1979–, became nutrition director. Cofounder of Fight the Fat (nutrition program).

MEMBER: American Dietetic Association.

WRITINGS:

(With others) The Town That Lost a Ton: How One Town Lost 3,998 Pounds … and How You Can Too!, Sourcebooks, Inc. (Naperville, IL), 2002.

SIDELIGHTS: Dietitian Jane Clemen and two coworkers at Mercy Medical Center in Dyersville, Illinois, collaborated with freelance writer Daniel Myerson on The Town That Lost a Ton: How One Town Lost 3,998 Pounds … and How You Can Too! to document their success with a weight-loss program they founded in 1998. She and physical therapist Bobbi Schell and director of marketing Dianne Kirkwood discovered that half of the health problems in their community were weight-related. They were hoping to begin with one hundred people, but 383 people signed up to participate in the program and actually lost nearly two tons.

Their success is attributed to the use of a buddy system to stay on course. Participants were separated into small groups of six to ten and competed with each other to see which could lose the most. The book advises that dieters should enjoy such pleasures as massage, gardening, and music to relieve stress and also includes basic good sense tips and recipes. In reviewing The Town That Lost a Ton, Booklist contributor Barbara Jacobs wrote that "every one of the ten chapters here is filled with great advice and sound nutrition tips."

The ten-week program expanded as more people participated from Dyersville and surrounding towns. Activities included exercise classes, dance, and power walking. Not quite half have kept the weight off, and Clemen, Schell, and Kirkwood are concentrating on that aspect of the program. They have also benefited, each having lost weight on the way to achieving their personal goals.

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

BOOKS

Clemen, Jane, and others, The Town That Lost a Ton: How One Town Lost 3,998 Pounds … and How You Can Too!, Sourcebooks (Naperville, IL), 2002.

PERIODICALS

Booklist, February 15, 2002, Barbara Jacobs, review of The Town That Lost a Ton: How One Town Lost 3,998 Pounds … and How You Can Too!, p. 979.

Publishers Weekly, February 18, 2002, review of The Town That Lost a Ton, p. 93.

ONLINE

USA Today Online, http://www.usatoday.com/ (February 19, 2002), Nanci Hellmich, review of The Town That Lost a Ton.