A Combined Workplace Intervention Including Exercise and Nutrition for Health Promotion in Obese Office Workers: A Randomized Controlled Study.
- 1Department of Physical Education and Sports Science, University of Thessaly, 42100 Trikala, Greece.
Abstract
Background: During the last decades, the office workplace setting has increasingly become an inherently "obesogenic" environment, promoting unhealthy behaviors. The main objective of this study was to investigate the efficacy of a 6-month workplace combined (exercise and nutrition) intervention in obese office workers, using a randomized controlled study. An additional objective of this study was to evaluate the individual responses per participant following the program. Methods: In total, 36 obese office workers (BMI: ≥30) were randomly assigned to two equal groups: intervention (IG; age: 48.06 ± 6.60 yrs; BMI: 33.57 ± 1.58 kg/m²) and control (CG; age: 47.95 ± 5.95 yrs; BMI: 33.54 ± 1.74 kg/m²). The IG participated in a daily supervised 6-month workplace program (during working hours), including (a) exercise (flexibility, balance, strength, and aerobic) and (b) counseling and educational activities for healthy diet and hydration. The CG did not participate in any intervention. Before and after the 6-month period, the following were measured: (a) health indices (body fat, body circumferences, blood pressure, respiratory function, and lipidemic profile), (b) functional capacity indices (flexibility, balance, handgrip strength, and cardiovascular fitness), and (c) adherence to the Mediterranean diet (MedDietScore) and daily water consumption. Results: All the participants of the IG reduced body mass, body fat, and circumferences (-4.47 to -18.95%), blood pressure (-4.08 to -46.15%), lipidemic profile indicators (-2.50 to -212.67%), and heart rate recovery (-9.62 to -57.33%), while increased respiratory function (1.82-20.26%), flexibility (5.13-50%), balance (15.38-88.83%), handgrip strength (5-25%), MedDietScore (12.5-56%), and water consumption (23.08-50%). In CG, all aforementioned indices remained unchanged (p = 0.16-0.99). Conclusions: A combined workplace intervention (exercise and nutrition) constitutes an effective approach for health promotion in obese office workers.
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BibTeX
@article{karatrantou2026combined,
title = {{A Combined Workplace Intervention Including Exercise and Nutrition for Health Promotion in Obese Office Workers: A Randomized Controlled Study.}},
author = {Konstantina Karatrantou and Elisavet Efthymiou and Christos Batatolis and Konstantinos Pappas and Theodora Vasilopoulou and Anastasia Melissopoulou and Vassilis Gerodimos},
journal = {Journal of functional morphology and kinesiology},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.3390/jfmk11040418},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42924697},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - A Combined Workplace Intervention Including Exercise and Nutrition for Health Promotion in Obese Office Workers: A Randomized Controlled Study.
AU - Konstantina Karatrantou
AU - Elisavet Efthymiou
AU - Christos Batatolis
AU - Konstantinos Pappas
AU - Theodora Vasilopoulou
AU - Anastasia Melissopoulou
AU - Vassilis Gerodimos
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/13
JO - Journal of functional morphology and kinesiology
DO - 10.3390/jfmk11040418
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42924697
AB - Background: During the last decades, the office workplace setting has increasingly become an inherently "obesogenic" environment, promoting unhealthy behaviors. The main objective of this study was to investigate the efficacy of a 6-month workplace combined (exercise and nutrition) intervention in obese office workers, using a randomized controlled study. An additional objective of this study was to evaluate the individual responses per participant following the program. Methods: In total, 36 obese office workers (BMI: ≥30) were randomly assigned to two equal groups: intervention (IG; age: 48.06 ± 6.60 yrs; BMI: 33.57 ± 1.58 kg/m²) and control (CG; age: 47.95 ± 5.95 yrs; BMI: 33.54 ± 1.74 kg/m²). The IG participated in a daily supervised 6-month workplace program (during working hours), including (a) exercise (flexibility, balance, strength, and aerobic) and (b) counseling and educational activities for healthy diet and hydration. The CG did not participate in any intervention. Before and after the 6-month period, the following were measured: (a) health indices (body fat, body circumferences, blood pressure, respiratory function, and lipidemic profile), (b) functional capacity indices (flexibility, balance, handgrip strength, and cardiovascular fitness), and (c) adherence to the Mediterranean diet (MedDietScore) and daily water consumption. Results: All the participants of the IG reduced body mass, body fat, and circumferences (-4.47 to -18.95%), blood pressure (-4.08 to -46.15%), lipidemic profile indicators (-2.50 to -212.67%), and heart rate recovery (-9.62 to -57.33%), while increased respiratory function (1.82-20.26%), flexibility (5.13-50%), balance (15.38-88.83%), handgrip strength (5-25%), MedDietScore (12.5-56%), and water consumption (23.08-50%). In CG, all aforementioned indices remained unchanged (p = 0.16-0.99). Conclusions: A combined workplace intervention (exercise and nutrition) constitutes an effective approach for health promotion in obese office workers.
SN - 2411-5142
ER -