STORY: Playground Inspiration by Irene Sax in Newsday

Story title : Playground Inspiration 
By: Irene Sax

      Jane Nidetch was a 214 pound housewife. She was desperate to lose weight. After two steady months of dieting, she was still 50 pounds overweight. So she invited six overweight friends to her house to share her diet and talk about how to stay on it.
     Today, 28 years later, one million members attend 25,000 Weight Watchers' meeting in 24 countries every week.
     Mrs. Nidetch says she got her inspiration to help people take control of their lives, from a childhood
incident. As a teenager she used to walk past a playground. Mothers brought kids there to play, and then they would get so deep in gossip that they completely forgot about the children. The toddlers sat on their swings, but no one was giving them a push start. So she gave each of them a push. And you know what happens after that: the swinger starts pumping and swinging by himself.
    "That's what my role in this weight watching has been, " says Mrs Nidetch, "I'm here to give others a push start."