Sussex county Waistlines and wallets factor heavily in Americans’ New Years resolutions every year. A new Rutgers University program, Small Steps to Health and Wealth, built on growing research suggesting that health and money management skills are related, offers consumers behavior change strategies to improve both over time. The program, which encourages gradual changes that can be applied to both financial planning practices and health, will be introduced statewide on March 1 by Rutgers Cooperative Extension. “We chose this day because it is the first day of National Nutrition Month and during America Saves Week and New Jersey Saves Week,” explained SSHW co-director, Dr. Barbara O’Neill. O’Neill and her colleague, Dr. Karen Ensle, co-authored a workbook that encourages readers to work on health and financial behavior changes together and use the same methods to improve both aspects of life. The book is available from the Natural Resource, Agriculture, and Engineering Service, which publishes books written by Cooperative Extension faculty in the northeast states. O’Neill is an extension specialist in family resource management and Ensle is a family and community health sciences educator and a registered dietitian. Both are faculty members of Rutgers Cooperative Extension. To kick off the program, a 25 Days to Better Health and More Wealth class will be held in Sussex County on Thursday, March 1. The class will introduce participants to the SSHW program and describe 25 research-based behavior change strategies to simultaneously improve your health and personal finances. The local program, which will be sponsored by Rutgers Cooperative Extension of Sussex County, will be held at the Extension office, 129 Morris Turnpike, Route 655, Frankford Township, from 7 to 9 p.m. For further information, contact the Extension office or Dr. Barbara O’Neill, by calling 973-948-3040 or e-mailing rcesc@aesop.rutgers.edu or oneill@aesop.rutgers.edu Small Steps to Health and Wealth is believed to be the first long-term campaign in the United States to encourage people to simultaneously improve their health and personal finances. Further information about the Small Steps to Health and Wealth program can be found at www.rcre.rutgers.edu/sshw.