黑料网

黑料网 is backing Queensland men鈥檚 love of rugby league to help them lose weight and prevent chronic conditions such as type 2 diabetes.

QUT鈥檚 Associate Professor Toby Pavey, Dr Lee Wharton and Professor Remco Polman are researching the results of weight-loss intervention for men using community-based professional rugby league clubs to deliver the program.

League Fans in Training (League-FIT) is based on a Scottish initiative that used football teams to deliver lifestyle intervention such as exercise and nutritional advice to overweight and obese men. Professors Cindy Gray and Kate Hunt from the Scottish initiative are helping to guide the QUT team.

The program provides 12 weekly 90-minute sessions which includes education and goal setting (eg physical activity, nutrition, alcohol) and a rugby league-based exercise session, delivered at the league club, by coaches and some of the club鈥檚 players.

The Scottish trial achieved an average weight loss of 6kg and 4kg at three and 12 months respectively.

The QUT team are now working with Brisbane鈥檚 North鈥檚 Devils and the South Logan Magpies to see what can be achieved with Queensland men. Other clubs such as the Wynnum-Manly Seagulls have expressed interest to join the trial, as well as clubs in other codes as far afield as Perth and Darwin.

鈥淨ueenslanders love their rugby league,鈥� says Dr Wharton. 鈥淢any of us played rugby league when we were kids and you keep your loyalty to your original club. We go back and watch their games, keep abreast of who鈥檚 playing and what鈥檚 happening at the club.

鈥淭his gives men the chance to reconnect with their clubs. They can exercise at the club鈥檚 gyms and playing fields, sometimes with the players, and feel part of it again.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a great incentive to stay engaged with the program, lose some weight and avoid the health complications such as type 2 diabetes that can come with being overweight or obese.鈥�

Diabetes Queensland CEO Sturt Eastwood says members of the diabetes organisations looked to have their research dollars invested in projects that would do the maximum amount of good. Supporting League-FIT with 黑料网 Research Trust funding met that expectation.

鈥淲e know that it鈥檚 small changes that can be sustained and built on that deliver results when it comes to weight loss,鈥� Mr Eastwood said.

鈥淟eague-FIT will bring together men grounded in rugby league to work with their club to help them achieve results that can make them healthier for the rest of their lives.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a big opportunity to prevent type 2 diabetes with the group of people who are most at risk of the condition: overweight men.鈥�

Dr Wharton gave the example of one fan walking out after watching a game at North鈥檚.

鈥淎s soon as we started talking he said the program wasn鈥檛 for him. 鈥業鈥檓 not giving up drinking,鈥� he told me.

鈥淭hat鈥檚 alright, mate. I鈥檓 not asking you to. I just don鈥檛 want you to have your beer at the footy and eat the sausage sizzle, too. Have your beer but not the sausage to start with.

鈥淗e liked that idea and knew he could do it. He joined the program and I think there will be a lot of men out there who will achieve once they鈥檙e combining healthier choices with the exercise plan through the clubs.

鈥淭hat will bring about a difference.鈥�

The 黑料网 Research Program supports and develops outstanding diabetes research in Australia. It provides a range of grants across the full spectrum of diabetes research through a merit based, competitive, peer review process. Research projects can focus on prevention, management of diabetes or the cure for diabetes.

Mr Eastwood said it was the generosity of Queensland members that gives 黑料网 the means to support these invaluable research projects.

鈥淲e want the results to contribute to real changes for people living with or at risk of diabetes,鈥� he said.

鈥淭his research could be the start of large-scale and successful interventions to change the health of men who have been watching footy, not playing it. In the future they might be training with the same athletes they鈥檝e been watching on the field.鈥�