At the Farm Fresh on Suffolk’s Main Street on Sunday, almost 40 folks signed on to a wellness initiative designed to help overcome community health issues, according to a vice president with the grocery store chain in Hampton Roads.

The Healthy You Challenge is a free, six-week educational program. Participants first register with Farm Fresh dieticians and pharmacists, who weigh them, answer nutritional and health-related questions and help set goals.

Throughout the program, participants consult with the company’s health experts each week on how to stay on track and make healthy lifestyle changes.

Participants also receive weekly newsletters with nutritional advice, healthy eating tips, goal tracking tools and coupons.

At the end of the six weeks, March 28, those who successfully completed the program receive a $10 gift card — and, one hopes, a healthier outlook on life.

“This started about a year ago, during a dialogue with the mayor of Portsmouth about his desire to have a healthier lifestyle for himself and his constituents,” said Mark Merrill, Farm Fresh’s area vice president for merchandizing, sales and marketing, who said 38 signed on for the challenge in Suffolk on Sunday.

That conversation, according to Micky Nye, president of Farm Fresh, took place at the Victory Crossing Shopping Center store in Portsmouth, where the initiative was officially launched on Monday.

“Mayor Wright shared his lifestyle and the changes he was going through, and plans for a healthy Portsmouth,” Nye said.

“He said, ‘As big as this monster is, I don’t know if one person can lead the change.’”

That sparked a Farm Fresh brainstorming session that led to the program’s creation, Nye said.

Wright said he had set a personal goal of losing 100 pounds. “I lost 60, but since this winter I have gained 25 back,” he said.

Citing Centers of Disease Control and Prevention statistics, Wright said one in three Portsmouth children are obese. Among the city’s black and Latino children, he added, it rises to half.

“Our health statistics are very poor,” he said. “Not just in Portsmouth, but in Hampton Roads in general.”

Old Dominion University School of Nursing, Children’s Hospital of the King’s Daughters’ pediatric obesity program, the American Diabetes Association, American Heart Association and American Cancer Society were among other community partners on hand at the launch event, with presentations and brochures.

“It looks like they are covering everything,” said Gerald Brown, who paused to gather some of the information with his sister, Pamela Wilkins.

“I’m trying to wean off sodas,” he added.