Promoting physical activity and reduced sedentary time in football clubs: lessons from eurofit

PURPOSE: The European Fans in Training (EuroFIT) program was delivered in elite professionals football clubs in four European countries and aimed to engage overweight and obese men in initiating and maintaining improvements in physical activity, sedentary, and dietary behaviours. It seeks also to overcome the 'know‐do' gap in the implementation of public health programs, by developing, in partnership with stakeholders, policy‐makers and end‐users, a set of validated guidelines to maximize repli‐cation beyond the funded project. METHODS: Pragmatic randomised controlled trial comprising a gender‐sensitized 12‐week lifestyle program in 1200 middle‐aged (30‐65y) men in Portugal, Norway, the Netherlands, and the UK. The program was led by club coaches, and afliation to clubs leveraged to extend reach to 'hard‐to‐reach' men, and increase group relatedness, interest in the program, and adaptive motivation for behaviour change. Real‐time, self‐relevant feed‐back on step count and sedentary time was provided via an accelerometer (SitFit) and challenge and connection to other participants promoted with a proprietary app (MatchFit). Analyses of effectiveness seeking how well it works and by which mechanisms it works and cost‐effectiveness will be conducted. An extensive process evaluation is also embedded in the RCT assessing implementation, mechanisms, and context, seeking to build an evidence base that informs policy and practice. RESULTS: The EuroFIT RCT involved 15 participating clubs. Perspectives from sociology and gender studies, Self‐Determination Teory and Achievement Goal Teory were integral components of the intervention and measurement protocol. A key strength of the EuroFIT project is the existing and developing relationships with all partners, through participative, inclusive, approaches to designing, delivering and scaling up the program. It follows an iterative, action research style approach conductive to guidelines and a licensing system frmly embedded in experience, al‐lowing replication with fdelity in delivery CONCLUSION: The European Fans in Training project development was framed to address two of the major problems in health promotion research and translation: Long‐term sustainability of health‐related be‐havioural changes and the scaling‐up of research‐based interventions, reaching a population impact.