Can a Sports Team based Lifestyle Program (Hockey Fans In Training) Improve Weight In Overweight Men? 2140 Board #292 June 2, 3: 30 PM 5: 00 PM.
The issue of gender is often neglected when planning and implementing chronic disease prevention and management strategies. Football Fans in Training (FFIT) a gender sensitized, weight loss and healthy living program for men delivered via professional football clubs has been shown to be highly effective in helping overweight/obese men lose weight and improve their health risk. PURPOSE: To examine the potential for new male friendly, physical activity and healthy living program Hockey Fans in Training (Hockey FIT) to help overweight/obese men decrease their weight, waist circumference (WC) and body mass index (BMI) after 12 weeks. METHODS: A pilot, pragmatic randomized controlled trial (RCT) whereby male fans (35 65 years; BMI 28 kg/m2) of 2 Junior A hockey clubs (Ontario, Canada) were randomized to either the intervention (Hockey FIT) or comparator (wait list control) Hockey FIT involved 12 weekly, 90 minute group sessions delivered by trained coaches using club facilities. Each session combined classroom activities, including evidence based behaviour change techniques (e.g. self monitoring, goal setting) and healthy eating advice (e.g. reducing portions) with physical activity training. Lifestyle prescriptions, including incremental step count targets, were also prescribed each week. We examined between group differences in mean weight loss, WC, and BMI using linear mixed effects regression models that accounted for club and age. RESULTS: Baseline characteristics were similar between groups [total N 80, median (interquartile range) i) age: 48.0 (17.0) years; ii) weight: 112.2 (23.2) kg; iii) WC: 119.3 (13.5) cm; iv) BMI: 35.1 (6.3) kg/m2] Of the 40 men in the Hockey FIT group, 30 (75% attended at least 6 sessions. At 12 weeks, the Hockey FIT group lost more weight than the control group [difference between groups in mean weight change (control is reference) 3.6 (95% confidence interval: 5.2 to 1.9) kg, p<0.001] The Hockey FIT group also saw greater reductions in WC and BMI, when compared to the control group [difference between groups in mean i) WC: 2.8 5.0 to 0.6) cm, p=0.01; ii) BMI: 0.9 1.4 to 0.4) kg/m2, p<0.001] CONCLUSION: Hockey FIT has the potential to help overweight/obese men lose weight and improve health risk. A definite RCT is warranted with long term follow up.
Medicine and science in sports and exercise