North West Community Development Council (CDC) and the Health Promotion Board (HPB) have launched a new fitness programme targeting the Indian community.

The 12-week Healthy Together @ North West programme consists of weekly brisk walks and HPB health workshops.

It was launched on Sunday at the North West-Tamil Murasu brisk walk, where 500 Indian residents in the district walked 3km along the Rail Corridor in Bukit Timah.

There are about 70,000 Indian residents in the North West district, which covers areas such as Bukit Panjang, Bukit Timah and Sembawang, but only about 1,300 of them are involved in brisk walking clubs organised by the CDC.

Based on the 2010 National Health Survey, about 17 per cent of the Indian population in Singapore are obese - this is 1.5 times the national average of 10.8 per cent.