Blame it on our heritage, on our rich food, the hot weather we experience in summer, or just blame it on genetics. Whatever the reason, a great majority of our residents are not healthy.

We don’t typically eat healthy, and we don’t regularly exercise.

The result is widely known. Mississippi residents are overweight and unhealthy.

But all hope is not lost.

People change their eating and exercise habits every day. It’s perhaps among the simplest things we can do to change our lives. But it also tends to be among the most difficult for some as well.

In a few weeks, Natchez and Adams County residents have an opportunity to make a big change in their lives, a change to become healthier.

Natchez is one of only a handful of cities in the country to be a testing ground for the Clinton Foundation’s Health Matters Initiative. Its goal is simple: Help residents learn how to become healthier and thus improve the quality and longevity of their lives.

Ultimately, we all know that no program can force those changes on someone. The only way that adults can change their habits and lifestyles is when they decide they want to do so.

However, the new health initiative may spark some interest in healthy living or answer some questions that help motivate a person to get started. If that helps just one person make a change that helps improve the quality of their lives, the program will be a success.