The 2011 CrossRoadsNews Health & Wellness Expo will be kicking off Jan. 29 at the Mall at Stonecrest with a lot of excitement around getting fit and healthy for the new year.

Title sponsors for the expo, which is in its sixth year, are Children’s Health Care of Atlanta at Hughes Spalding, Kaiser Permanente and 100 Black Women of DeKalb-Decatur.

New this year is the Fitness FaceOff Contest featuring fitness instructors and personal trainers showing the moves and music they use to motivate their clients to get fit and stay that way.

Seven contestants will vie for the Fitness FaceOff Trophy and a grand prize of a table at the April 23 Best of East Metro/Small Business Expo at the Mall at Stonecrest.

A panel of celebrity judges will select a winner. For a look at this year’s competitors, see pages B6-B7.

More than two dozen exhibitors, including hospitals, health centers, physicians, dentists and other health care professionals, health insurers, training institutes and government agencies, will discuss health issues and offer resources on some of the health issues that plague our community.

Expo goers will have their pick of free screenings for diabetes, hypertension, scoliosis, and HIV/AIDS. There also will be performances and demonstrations from the Main Stage in front of Macy’s.

Jennifer Parker, editor and publisher of CrossRoadsNews, says the Health & Wellness Expo is one of four community expos that the newspaper sponsors annually at the 1.3 million-square-foot Lithonia mall. The others are the Summer Camp Expo in March, the Small Business Expo in April, and the Family & Adoption Expo in August.

Parker says the Health & Wellness Expo is East Metro Atlanta’s largest gathering in celebration of health and wellness.

Since its launch in 2006, the Health & Wellness Expo has attracted up to 10,000 people to the mall every January.

“It is a great place for people to educate themselves about health issues and become motivated to take better care of themselves,” Parker said.