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Published on: April 19, 2019
A 7-Month Multidisciplinary Healthy Lifestyle Intervention Effectively Improved Cardiometabolic Risk Profile of
Daniel Rodrigues Ferreira Saint-Martin1, Kevin Alves Barreto, Edgard M K Von Koenig Soares
1From the Faculty of Physical Education of the University of Brasilia FEF/UnB, Brasilia-DF, Brazil (D.R.F.S.-M., K.A.B., E.M.K.V.K.S., R.M.N., G.E.M., L.G.G.P.); Grupo de Estudos em Fisiologia e Epidemiologia do Exercício e da Atividade Física GEAFS, Brasilia-DF, Brazil (D.R.F.S.-M., K.A.B., E.M.K.V.K.S., R.M.N., G.E.M., L.G.G.P.); Federal District Military Firefighter Brigade CBMDF, Brasilia-DF, Brazil (M.S.M., C.S.d.S.M., A.M.B.B., R.M.N.); and First Responder Health and Safety Lab, Department of Health and Human Physiological Sciences, Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs-NY (S.D'I., D.L.S., E.M.K.V.K.S.).
Objective:
We investigated the effect of a 7-month healthy lifestyle intervention on cardiometabolic risk factors (CMRF) among male career military firefighters (FFs).
Methods:
Forty-nine FFs participated in a 7-month workplace multiddisciplinary healthy lifestyle intervention designed to reduce CMRF through exercise, diet, and improved sleep. Medical assessments, accelerometry, and surveys at the beginning and end determined program effectiveness.
Results:
At the end of the intervention period, there was a significant improvement in measures of body composition and blood glucose. The prevalence of hypertension also decreased significantly ( P < 0.01). The 57% of participants who fully adhered to the program had significantly greater improvements across multiple CMRF. Participants increased their physical activity and improved their diet following the intervention.
Conclusions:
This healthy lifestyle intervention was effective in changing behavior and lowering cardiometabolic risk among FFs.
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