A Short-Term Intervention to Reduce Stress Levels in Workplace for Office Worker at UEFA—The Union of European Football Associations in Nyon/Switzerland

Background: Today, according to the WHO, workplace stress is particularly common. Several medical and scientific studies have shown that workplace stress can have a serious impact on overall health, a triggering or aggravating factor for many diseases and pathological conditions. This study was conducted to investigate the effects of a stress-reducing eight-week workshop and online messages campaign on office workers. Methods: To collect data of this quasi-experimental study with pre- and post-test, DASS-21 (Depression Anxiety Stress Scale) was used (only part stress;14 items). For eligible samples, stress-reducing workshops and online messages were held for 8 weeks by a specialist. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 20. Results: Of the 68 participants at the beginning, 43 participants were able to follow up on the 8-week campaign. The drop of participants must be explained by the sudden Covid-19 situation and the postponement of the UEFA EURO 2020 football activities. Overall, 13 of 14 items of stress perception had a decreased score number from pre-test to the post-test results in participants. The test results revealed that there was a significant difference mean of stress score before and after the participants got the campaign with the p-value less than 0.001. The mean difference was 4.18. It meant that after the campaign the mean of the stress score decrease was 4.18. Conclusion: The intervention at the workplace of office employees at UEFA, the United European Football Association, has shown that simple specific lifestyle behaviors, wrapped up in weekly workshops and online messages over a period of eight weeks, significantly reduced stress and stress-related conditions in office employees and improved positive dimensions of mental health and stress-related behavior. This campaign can be applicable to office workers of any type of organization or company.

Healthy Habits Associated with Successful Weight Loss Maintenance on a Commercial Program: Learnings from a Research Survey

Background: Maintenance of lost weight is a challenging aspect of weight management, therefore, an online survey of OPTAVIA (“the Program”) coaches and clients was conducted to understand the habits of successful maintainers. Methods: Coaches and clients who lost ≥ 10% body weight on the Program, had been trying to maintain their weight loss for ≥1 year, and maintained > 75% of their weight loss during that time were identified. Mean ± SD were calculated for continuous variables and categorical variables were quantified using frequencies and percentages. Results: The analysis included 590 respondents (342 coaches, 248 clients;84% female, 52.6 ± 11.9 years). Average weight loss was 23.7% ± 8.6%;average time in maintenance was 24.5 ± 15.8 months. The most common maintenance strategies included self-monitoring, leveraging habits learned during weight loss, food-related strategies, physical activity, establishing a healthy environment, and becoming a coach. Coaches identified several beneficial factors: higher accountability, increased self-awareness, paying it forward, aligning maintenance with their identity as a coach, being a role model, and engagement with the Program. Conclusions: Successful coaches and clients use behaviors consistent with existing literature combined with several unique to the Program. The novel insights from this research rest primarily on the strategy of becoming a coach to help maintain weight loss.