Alfonso “Poncho” de Anda, co-host of Univision morning program “Despierta America (Wake-Up America),” is the host of “Dale con ganas” (Give It All You’ve Got!), a weight-loss reality show set to premiere next month on the network.
For 12 weeks, the program will document the triumphs and failures of four Hispanic families as they strive to shed pounds in the interest of better health - and to win $100,000.
The brainchild of Dave Broome, creator and executive producer of NBC’s “The Biggest Loser,” the Univision show adapts the concept to Latinos by making the competition between families instead of individuals.
“We Hispanics are very united, so we wanted that the entire family participates in the project,” De Anda told Efe in a telephone interview.
“And more than a contest, this is an important project, because the figures for excessive weight among Hispanics are alarming: if I’m not mistaken, four in every seven Latinos have this problem,” he said.
“On this program the families meet with nutritionists, trainers and experts in weight control to reach their goals and, what is more important, to sustain those results,” De Anda said.
