PHLAME
Promoting Healthy Living: Assessing More Effects
Healthy eating, regular exercise and maintaining a healthy body weight would prevent 500,000 premature U.S. deaths per year. Today, less than 5% of Americans achieve all three of these health goals. Like most Americans, many fire fighters do not get enough physical activity or eat a healthy diet.
Background
In 1998 the National Institutes of Health funded 14 studies to assess new ways to promote healthy lifestyles. The original PHLAME study was one of those programs and a member of the Behavior Change Consortium.
The PHLAME project tested different ways to promote health among fire fighters. More than 600 fire fighters from Oregon and SW Washington participated. Fire stations were placed in one of three groups: 1) testing and results only, 2) testing and individual health coaching using Motivational Interviewing (link to our own page) and 3) testing and a Team program (link to more on Team program, see below), with each shift at a station being its own team.
There were four health goals:
- Increase physical activity to at least 30 minutes each day.
- Reduce saturated and trans-fats and increase omega-3 fatty acid intake.
- Increase servings of fruits and vegetables to at least five per day.
- Improve energy balance and normalize body weight.
PHLAME Results
Both the coaching and Team program resulted in significantly better eating and exercise habits and lower body weights than the control group.
During PHLAME, the average annual cost of injuries and work related health problems decreased approximately $1000/fire fighter.
PHLAME II Continued Research
Because PHLAME improved the health of fire fighters, the National Cancer Institute funded PHLAME II to test the PHLAME fire fighters for four more years, learn more about why and how people change their health habits and study the economic impact of the program including the costs of work related injuries and illness.
PHLAME II is part of the Health Maintenance Consortium.
The PHLAME TEAM Program
While running the Team program, fire fighters meet for 12, one-hour sessions, over the course of a year. One team member leads the meeting using scripted lesson plans. Team members participate in activities concerning nutrition, exercise, energy balance and other topics that the team selects. All receive a Nutrition & Fitness Guide designed for fire fighters. Ongoing ‘positive’ peer pressure helps promote and maintain TEAM members’ healthy eating and regular exercise.
The Team program is being studied in fire departments across the country, including new sties in California, Indiana, Oregon, Colorado and Maryland.
