Abstract
Background: Excess weight is associated with an increased risk of poor health and premature mortality. This is more problematic for men than for women because men have a lower life expectancy and a higher prevalence of several lifestyle-related diseases. A concept whereby overweight male supporters of professional football clubs are recruited and offered a weight-loss intervention has been developed in Scotland. In the present study, we explore participants' experiences of a similar pilot intervention, called ViSiT, conducted with supporters in one ice hockey club and one football club in Sweden to assess the feasibility of using the intervention in a Swedish context.Methods: In this user centered evaluation, focus groups were conducted with 12 men who had completed the 12-week ViSiT intervention. Participants discussed reasons for participating in and completing the intervention, effects of the intervention, advantages, and areas of improvement of the intervention, and thoughts on the club's involvement. The material was analyzed using thematic analysis according to Braun and Clarke.Results: The analyses revealed four themes: reasons to participate, motivation and reinforcement, change of habit, and areas for improvement. The intervention was seen as an opportunity to change daily lifestyle behaviors. The group format, as well as the involvement of a prestigious sports club, was important for signing up to the intervention and for motivating continued involvement. The intervention had also resulted in increased knowledge on health and changed mindsets about being more attentive to regulating day-to-day behavior. Although the overall feedback on the intervention was positive, the participants suggested that possibilities to have more individual coaching should be added.Conclusions: The ViSiT weight loss and lifestyle intervention may be feasible in a Swedish context to reach overweight men at risk of poor health. The ice hockey and football club supporters expressed similar experiences from participating in the intervention. ViSiT seem to have a potential to be adopted by many sports clubs for a widespread reach to a group normally considered reluctant to participate in lifestyle change programs.
Highlights
Excess weight is associated with an increased risk of poor health and premature mortality
Among the men who participated in the focus groups, three had children living at home; 10 out of 21 of the participants in the intervention had children living at home
It was expressed that noticing these effects, mostly in one self and among others in the group, kept the motivation and inspiration going throughout the intervention
Summary
Excess weight is associated with an increased risk of poor health and premature mortality. Men appear to be less knowledgeable about risk factors for health and more reluctant than women to engage in healthpromoting programmes (Pagoto et al, 2012; Gray et al, 2013; Carroll and Lambe, 2014; Ek, 2015) On this point, there have been several recent initiatives assessing gender-sensitized healthy lifestyle interventions for men performed in contexts such as their work place, with their children or technology-based (Caperchione et al, 2016; Seaton et al, 2017; Williams et al, 2018; Young and Morgan, 2018). FFIT aims to recruit overweight supporters of professional football clubs and offer them a weight-loss intervention combining evidencebased behavioral change techniques to improve physical activity, sedentary time and diet. We explore participants’ experiences of a similar pilot intervention, called ViSiT, conducted with supporters in one ice hockey club and one football club in Sweden to assess the feasibility of using the intervention in a Swedish context
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