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The effectiveness of a Combined Healthy Eating, Physical Activity, and Sleep hygiene lifestyle intervention on health and fitness of overweight airline pilots: A controlled trial
In this parallel-group study by Wilson et al. (2022), the authors investigated the efficacy of a physical activity (PA), sleep and nutrition program on the body composition, cardiorespiratory fitness, and healthy habits in a population of 125 airline pilots who are overweight. The participants were divided into a control or an intervention group, which engaged in a 16-week customized program addressing sleep hygiene, healthy diet, and PA. Health data were collected (at baseline and after the conclusion of the study) on body mass, girth, maximal oxygen consumption (VO2max), blood pressure, plank hold, resting heart rate, and push-ups, in addition to self-reports on health, including sleep quality, weekly PA, fruit, and vegetable consumption and self-rated health. Analysis of the results demonstrated a substantial impact of the intervention program on enhancing all measured health outcomes (except for the weekly walking component, which did not induce a significant impact). Objective health measures investigated were substantially enhanced in the intervention group compared to controls, a trend which was also observed in self-reports on sleep quality, fruit and vegetable intake, moderate-to-vigorous PA, and self-rated health. The authors conclude that their results showcase the impact of a customized 16-week PA, healthy eating, and sleep hygiene intervention on the short-term enhancement of the physical and mental health of overweight airline pilots, however, more studies are necessary to evaluate the longitudinal maintenance of these observations. [NPID: Aerobic capacity, fruit and vegetable intake, lifestyle medicine, physical activity, nutrition, weight loss]
Year: 2022
