5 May 2011
Funding for football fans' fitness initiative
Photograph shows Dundee United fan, and one of the FFIT participants, Harry Curran hard at work at Tannadice.
A groundbreaking collaboration between Scotland’s top football clubs and other partners, including the University of Dundee, has announced further funding of around £100,000 to help soccer fans across the country battle obesity.
Eleven Scottish Premier League (SPL) clubs, including Celtic, Rangers, Dundee United and St Johnstone, took part in the initial phase of Football Fans in Training (FFIT). The 12-week programme saw more than 350 male supporters put through their paces by club coaches and lose a combined 1,202 kg as a result.
A second block of FFIT sessions will begin in August thanks to £100,000 of funding from The Football Pools, who had previously donated £290,000 to kick start the scheme last year. Aimed at increasing physical activity, improving diet and promoting a healthy lifestyle, the programme was developed by club coaches in conjunction with health and sports science researchers and health professionals in Scotland.
Public health and gender experts at the Medical Research Council/Chief Scientist Office Social and Public Health Sciences Unit (MRC SPHSU), the Universities of Dundee, Stirling and Strathclyde, and NHS Forth Valley participated in the project.
Researchers from Dundee involved were primarily engaged with the methodology of evaluating FFIT, particularly how to measure its success in helping male fans lose weight and change their habits and lifestyles.
One of the researchers involved in the project, Dr Shaun Treweek, said the outcomes of the project suggested that men-only programmes such as this, coupled with the emotional pull of getting involved with their favourite club, helped overcome the stigma attached to attending existing commercial and public weight-loss programmes that exist in the eyes of some men.
'Our involvement has largely been in terms of design methodology and statistical analysis. Feedback from participants has been positive,' he said. 'I recently met some of the participants for the first time and it was an eye-opener for me.
'The group taking part are overweight, sometimes very overweight, men and we know that they may have tried other means of losing weight but it hasn’t worked. When they took part in this initiative they all shared a common interest, and when they wore the shirts they felt they were representing their clubs and losing weight for them.
'The all-male male environment, camaraderie, emotional attachment to their clubs and the fact their fellow participants knew what they were going through helped spur them on to lose weight.'
Billy Singh, General Manager of the SPL Trust, said: 'We are delighted with the impact that Football Fans in Training has in encouraging men to lead healthier lives. Having spoken with many of the participants involved, there is clear recognition that the draw of their local SPL club was huge and this influenced them taking part in the programme.'
Jon Sheehy, Director of The Football Pools said: 'The Football Pools is pleased to be involved in the development and funding of Football Fans in Training. It is great to see that this has given rise to additional funding being generated for such an important project supporting men's health through the power of football.'
The second phase of the project will be launched in August 2011, and the FFIT partners hope that more than 1000 fans will sign up. FFIT is open to men between the ages of 35 and 65 who meet any of the following criteria:
- BMI of 28+
- Belly 40 inches +
- Trouser waist size of 38 inches +
To register your interest in the programme please call 0800 389 2129, text FFIT to 88802 or email
ffit@sphsu.mrc.ac.uk / spltrust@scotprem.com.
For media enquiries contact:
Grant Hill
Press Officer
University of Dundee
Nethergate, Dundee, DD1 4HN
TEL: 01382 384768
E-MAIL: g.hill@dundee.ac.uk
MOBILE: 07854 953277 |
