The Department of Clinical Nutrition at Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center announces a new series of weight-management classes for adult patients and employees.

Journey to Health: A Weight Management Program will begin Jan. 27. The 12-week program, conducted by registered dietitian Susan Veldheer, is a combination of group meetings and intense, home-based assignments. The program will feature concepts from the Volumetrics Weight Control Plan designed by Barbara Rolls, chair of nutritional sciences at Penn State University Park. Other features:

-- Intense homework assignments that will get you thinking about food, our food culture and your home environment in entirely new ways.

-- A supermarket tour and scavenger hunt that will give you the tools you need to stock your pantry and avoid pitfalls at the store.

-- A group session and assignments created by psychologist Andrea Rigby will address how to cope with difficult eating situations and develop strategies to deal with the emotional eating element of our relationship with food.

Program meeting dates are: Jan. 27, Feb. 10 and 24, March 10 and 24, and April 7. Group meeting sessions will be held from 4-5 p.m. at the Vine Street Clinic, 4000 Vine Street, Middletown, Pa.

The 12-week program is $225, and payment in full is required at the first visit. The group psychology session with Andrea Rigby will be billed to insurance. To register, call the Vine Street clinic at 1-877-609-6848.