Piolin pitches P90X, challenges listeners to get in shape

Eddie “Piolín” Sotelo has launched campaigns to convince his millions of listeners to fight for immigration reform, to apply for U.S. citizenship and to register to vote.

Now he’s taking on obesity -- as a spokesman for Beachbody, developer of the popular exercise program P90X.

It’s a logical cause for the syndicated Latino radio personality. According to the Office of Minority Health, part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Hispanic American adults are more likely to be overweight or obese than non-Hispanic white American adults. So are Hispanic high school students. And in 2007, Hispanic adults were 50% less likely to take part in physical activity than their non-Hispanic counterparts. Times reporter Anna Gorman recently wrote about disparities between Latino children and other kids in her Dec. 28 story “A vast child obesity gap between affluent city, lower-income one.” (Link provided at left.)

“I have a lot of listeners, people who ask me, ‘How can I lose weight’?”, Sotelo told Booster Shots on Thursday. “There was a listener I talked to a few weeks ago, she was really sad because her son weighed 500 pounds. He couldn’t move, he couldn’t walk. I saw it was important to get involved and find a resolution for obesity. People are dying.”

Sotelo said he learned the importance of working out from his grandfather in Mexico, who fashioned homemade barbells and took regular runs in the hills.

During the Piolín Weight Loss Challenge, Sotelo will urge listeners to eat right and get exercise -- and, while they’re at it, see how they like Beachbody’s wares.

Click here for details about the campaign, which will include a Los Angeles-area event with Sotelo on Saturday.

Return to the Booster Shots blog.