Scottish research on Scottish fans a lesson for all

An initiative that helps male football fans feel better and live a healthier lifestyle by losing weight, taking more exercise, and improving their diet has been a resounding success, according to new research published in The Lancet and BMC Public Health.

The Glasgow University-led team ran a randomised controlled trial of 747 male football fans with a body-mass index (BMI) of 28 kg/m² or higher from 13 Scottish professional football clubs.

Professor Sally Wyke, one of the two Principal Investigators from the University of Glasgow said: “We now have ‘gold standard’ evidence that the FFIT programme can help men lose weight and keep it off. After 12 months, the difference in weight loss between men who did the programme and men in a comparison group, who did not do the programme, was 4·94kg.”

• More information about FFIT
• The BMC Public Health article
• The Lancet article
• The Guardian's Football fans get FFIT through Scottish premiership scheme tackling obesity
• More from the MHF which helped establish a programme at English football grounds.