In her 30 years as a primary care physician, Dr. Kathleen Davis treated many people facing serious diseases they could have prevented with the right diet, sufficient exercise and other healthy lifestyle choices. Now, she and several other Islanders have created a program designed to help people make those choices and improve the quality of their lives.

The program, called Shape Up, Vashon, or SUV for short, will debut this weekend when its organizers staff a booth at the Vashon Farmers Market, where they will take blood pressures, do confidential weigh-ins and determine people’s body mass index. The group will also offer a three-minute fitness test, provide health and wellness information and enroll Islanders in this new group. Following the market, organizers will offer a six-minute walking test between McMurray and Vashon High School.

Once members, people will have access to a range of resources designed to make getting and staying healthy a little bit easier, Davis said, with potentially large rewards.

“Cardiovascular disease, diabetes, osteoarthritis, depression and certain cancers — all of these can be prevented entirely or their onset delayed, and if you have them, they can be improved,” she said.

A recent study has also found that aerobic exercise can also help prevent dementia, she noted.

With those statistics in mind, Davis and volunteers on the group’s steering committee — including Davis’ husband, emergency room physician-turned personal trainer Chris Davis — hope to make it easy for Islanders to get moving.

SUV will encourage walking groups, Davis said. Friends, businesses and organizations can form their own groups, and members of Vashon’s Road Crew, a women’s walking group that has logged countless miles since its inception more than 10 years ago, will offer tips to the groups in getting organized and staying energized over time.

Seniors with certain Medicare Advantage plans — about 700 people on Vashon — are eligible to enroll in the Silver Sneakers program at the Vashon Athletic Club, where for free they can learn how to use the club’s equipment and take two fitness classes a week, according to Davis.

For all SUV members interested in fitness, Davis encourages joining the President’s Fitness Challenge, which Pres. Dwight D. Eisenhower started because of his concerns that the youth of his day were not physically fit enough. Now online, the program asks adult participants to commit to being active 30 minutes a day and youth 60 minutes a day, at least five days a week for six out of eight weeks. People log their activities and earn points, which lead to awards from the site.

If people join as members of the SUV group, Davis, as the group’s administrator, will have access to how much members are exercising, and SUV will award prizes of its own, she said.

SUV will also make resources available to people interested in eating well and losing weight, including confidential weigh-ins, affordable recipes and educational materials.

Islanders, whether or not they’re members of SUV, can also take monthly classes at Vashon College, which will be offered by health and fitness professionals and include information on how to get started with SUV, home exercise programs and healthy eating options.

For those needing assistance for other health issues, such as smoking cessation, the group will provide information and resources for quitting. If enough people voice interest, Davis said, SUV will offer a smoking cessation class.

In all, there will be several options for people to help them take charge of their health and feel connected to others doing the same, according to Davis.

“Even if you’re doing something at home, you’re part of something bigger,” she said.

Islanders should expect to see elements of the new SUV program around town, Davis noted, as businesses have been invited to participate. At the grocery stores, there may be demonstrations of healthy recipes with the ingredients for them on sale. The Hardware Store Restaurant, whose owner Melinda Sontgerath is part of the SUV steering committee, may offer an SUV special. Bookstores might display books of fitness and health. And SUV has challenged Island bakeries and restaurants to a healthy muffin competition. Their mission: to create a muffin that is 110 calories or less, low in fat, high in fiber, without high fructose corn syrup — and delicious.

The man behind the muffin idea is Dr. George Gey, an Islander and retired preventive cardiologist, who said he has been part of the SUV project from the beginning.

“Our goal is to empower people to look after themselves,” he said.

Currently, Davis noted, the United States ranks first in obesity, and two-thirds of Americans are overweight or obese. “We have an obesogenic culture,” she said.

Restaurants foods are laden with calories; junk food is cheap; high fructose corn syrup abounds; jobs are sedentary and there is not an emphasis on everyday exercise.

Still, Davis said, change is beginning. She drew the inspiration for SUV from Get Fit Colville, a program in Eastern Washington begun by Dr. Barry Bacon, a family practice physician. After a little more than three years, Colville residents have lost more than 6,000 pounds and have made a commitment to reduce childhood obesity in their community.

Vashon’s program, Davis and other organizers note, is an invitation to everyone across the age spectrum and with varying physical abilities, and those who need to start small should not be discouraged if they need to begin with small steps.

“Everybody can improve,” Davis said.

For more information, see www.shapeupvashon.org. Stop by the Farmers Market from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday or the path between McMurray Middle School and the high school at 3 p.m. for a six-minute walking test.

SUV representatives will also be at the Community Dinner at Vashon High School on Thursday,  Oct. 6. The cost to join is $10 per year with scholarships available.