Your Next Move: Improving the health of middle-aged men who are overweight or obese

Background: Your NeXt Move: X Fans in Training Program is a healthy lifestyle program tailored for men who are overweight or obese and was based on another intervention implemented in an urban setting. The goal of ‘Your NeXt Move’ was to improve men’s health through exercise and health literacy-based lessons using humor and competition to facilitate positive lifestyle changes. This paper shares the efficacy of the 12-week program regarding weight, body mass index, waist circumference, blood pressure and physical activity in 35 to 65-year-old men who were overweight and obese living in a rural area. Methods: 25 men (49.4±8.3 yrs) provided data for this study. Results: Upon program completion, these men experienced, on average, a significant decrease in body weight (2.1 kg, p = 0.006), BMI (0.7 kg/m2, p=0.006), waist circumference, (3.6 cm, p=0.007), and systolic (7.7 mmHg, p=0.007) and diastolic (4.3 mmHg, p=0.036) blood pressure. They also, on average, increased their daily steps by about 2000, indicating improved levels of physical activity. Conclusion: These findings suggest ‘Your neXt Move’ was successful in improving the physiological health of the men who participated. Keywords: Physical activity; Exercise; waist circumference; Blood pressure; Comradery