Weight management study via rugby clubs

Auckland: A weight management programme delivered via rugby clubs may help curb New Zealand’s growing obesity problem, particularly among Māori and Pacific men. “In New Zealand 31 per cent of adults are obese and a further 34 per cent are overweight. Obesity in males increased from 17 per cent in 1997 to 30 per cent in 2012/2013, and men have higher rates of obesity than women across most age groups,” says Dr Maddison.

“Unfortunately, men do not typically engage with traditional weight loss programmes; 88 per cent of commercial programme attendees are female,” he say. “The reasons for this may include the perception that dieting and weight management programmes are ‘for women’ and concerns about feeling out of place in female-dominated groups.”
“Professional rugby with its high male, Māori, and Pacific fan base provides an ideal way to deliver weight management programmes,” says Dr Maddison.
This study funded by the Health Research Council NZ will modify and pre-test an effective and cost-effective programme developed in Scotland with professional soccer clubs to determine its acceptability for New Zealand men.
“The rapid increase in New Zealand’s obesity rates in recent years is a serious health concern,” says HRC Chief Executive Dr Kathryn McPherson. “Funding research such as this is vital as obesity and its related complications, including diabetes, high blood pressure, cancers, stroke, and heart disease, potentially pose the greatest public health threat to New Zealand going forward.”
Dr Maddison was one of nine researchers to receive a combined total of more than $1.2 million in Feasibility Study funding in the HRC’s 2015 funding round.