Dundee University researchers have found that training with football clubs has helped Scottish men focus on losing weight.
The Football Fans In Training programme, which the university is helping to evaluate, will feature in a BBC Two documentary on Sunday.
Around 1,000 men signed up to take part, training with Scottish Premier League clubs, and the programme will concentrate on the progress of the participants at St Johnstone, Dunfermline and Celtic.
One of the Dundee researchers, Dr Shaun Treweek, said the outcomes of the project suggested that such men-only programmes, coupled with the emotional pull of getting involved with their favourite club, helped overcome the stigma attached to attending weight-loss classes.
He said: ”This is such a great trial to be involved in. There are lots of participants, lots of clubs, a big, collaborative research team, and the promise of really interesting results.
”If we find a long-term benefit at the end of the trial then we will all have something to be proud of, something that benefits both the men and clubs taking part, and the wider population.”
The documentary shows that at the start of the programme many participants were unable to run for one minute, but 12 weeks later they were playing football and going to the gym.
Tom Rhodes (47), from Perth, who took part in St Johnstone FFIT at McDiarmid Park, said: ”The Football Fans in Training programme has completely turned my life around. I have much more energy and just feel so much better both physically and mentally.
”I lost two-and-a-half stone and achieved my goal of clocking a million steps on my pedometer during the 12-week course. The weight is still coming off and I aim to be back running three or four times a week by the end of the year.”Football Fans in Training is on BBC Two Scotland at 6.45pm on Sunday February 19.