[Effect of Pilates and Vitamin D Supplementation on Quality of Life (QoL) and Mental Health of Overweight Men: A Randomized Clinical Trial]

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Evidence shows that Vitamin D deficiency and obesity are associated with impaired physical and Mental health. This study aims to investigate the effect of Pilates and Vitamin D supplementation on quality of life and Mental health of Overweight men. METHODS & MATERIALS: This is a randomized clinical trial with a pre-test/post-test design. Fifty Overweight men were selected by a convenience sampling method and were randomly divided into four groups of control, exercise, supplementation, and exercise+supplementation. The exercise and combined groups performed 8 weeks of Pilates at an intensity of 50-75% of heart rate reserve, three sessions per week. The supplementation and combined groups received 50, 000 IU Vitamin D capsule once per week. Assessment tools were the 36-item Short Form survey (SF-36) and the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ). The data were analyzed by paired t-test, one-way ANOVA and Kruskal-Wallis test. P˂, 0. 05 was statistically significant. Ethical Considerations This study was approved by the research ethics committee of Islamic Azad University, Babol Branch, Iran (code: IR. IAU. BABOL. REC. 1398. 088). RESULTS: Vitamin D status in subjects was lower than normal (<30 ng/mL) at baseline. Eight weeks of Pilates alone, Vitamin D intake alone, and the combined intervention led to a significant increase in SF-36 (10. 57%, 9. 26% and 15. 75%, respectively) and GHQ (12. 66%, 10. 72% and 17. 90%, respectively). However, the effect of combined intervention was higher on the SF-36 (P<0. 001) and GHQ (P<0. 001) scores compared to two other interventions. CONCLUSION: It seems Pilates alone, Vitamin D supplementation alone, and their combination can improve the quality of life and Mental health in Overweight people with Vitamin D deficiency, where the combined intervention is more effective.