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You expect a football club to keep its players fit and healthy, but what about fans?
The English Football League clubs are changing lives in their local communities, helping "potato couches" become marathon runners, helping school children to have a balanced diet.
On the occasion of this month's National Obesity Awareness Week, BBC Sport met two clubs that showed that it was possible to win battles both in the field and in the field. .
How Swindon helped 'Couch Potato & # 39; to become a marathoner
League Two Swindon Town Football in the Community Trust has helped more than 200 people lose more than 250 stones in total thanks to their football fans in training [FFIT] initiative.
The sessions were initially open to men whose waist circumference was 38 inches or more, before the creation of a women's group last year as well, the FFIT having already been successful in Scotland.
The 12-week healthy lifestyle program – supported by Public Health Swindon – has been running at the Wiltshire club for four years and has been extended to seven other EFL clubs.
Richard Parker, 44, a fan of the city, told BBC Sport: "This course has changed my life from a couch potato to a healthy and active life.I now run twice a week with my club. It's a complete change.
"Four years ago, I weighed 17.5 kg, now I weigh 14 to 14.5 kg, and today, believe it or not, I run marathons and ultra marathons for fun."
Keith Hutchins, who has lost more than two stones since the beginning of the program in 2015, added: "Before, I was pretty lazy and still … Now I play football every Sunday, I ride a bike and I go to the gym.
"It's the best thing I've ever done."
Russell Peachey, course member, before and after participation in Football Fans Training
So how are they doing? The course combines theoretical sessions with physical exercise, and provides advice on portion size and calories consumed before running out in escalation in the stands of the Swindon & Co. County Ground.
"I'm much better, I sleep a lot better and I'm much happier," said another participant, Dave Potts, who has seen his shirt size go from XXL to big.
"I lost more than six inches to the waist and my blood pressure dropped by more than 15%."
Jon Holloway, head of Swindon Town's Football in the Community Trust, added to BBC Sport: "We had people who stopped taking medications and others who stopped being pre-diabetic. We have seen fantastic results in health.
"We are really very proud that so many men and women have come on the course and it 's so nice to see them become so much more active.It' s one of our goals. keys as trust. "
Simon Stevens, CEO of NHS England, said: "Obesity is a public health emergency and its resolution requires a team effort.
"Football clubs are the center of communities across England and working with them to encourage fans to get in shape is a great idea that can produce real results."
Finding joy in motion
On a very wintery Thursday afternoon in northwestern London, three clbades of fifth-grade elementary school children face the elements with some small-area football games.
The 9- and 10-year-olds are buzzing as they go to receive a special visit from a championship footballer as part of his participation in the EFL Trust's Joy of Movement program, a six weeks.
The goal is not only to encourage increased physical activity, but also to promote the benefits of a healthy and balanced diet.
About 1500 primary schools participate in the Joy of Movement program for fifth graders
At Northolt Downe Manor Primary School, Coaches from the Brentford Community Sports Trust hosted these sessions. This is only an overview of the approximately 1,500 schools and 80,000 students currently benefiting from this program.
Brentford's Spanish striker Sergi Canos is the special guest of the last session at Downe Manor. He will watch a football game before answering students' questions about his career.
"These things are really important for everyone, not just for school kids," Canos told BBC Sport.
"It's important for me because it reminds me where I come from. I was sitting in that kind of chair in this clbad while growing up.
"You can see the reaction of children when you talk to them, it's huge."
Canos, a product of the Barcelona Academy, moved to England at the age of 16 with his family when he joined Liverpool. An initial loan period in Brentford and six months in Norwich followed before he definitely changed positions at Griffin Park in January 2017.
Grade 5 students from Downe Manor Elementary School have the chance to question Sergi Canos from Brentford
"Even with my family here, the first six months after leaving Spain were the worst," revealed the 21-year-old. "I was definitely home sick and I was not playing the kind of football I was used to.
"Thankfully, I am here today and happy with my life in Brentford and I am really stronger for having experienced these kinds of experiences.
"I am happy to have experienced this because, for the past four and a half years I have been in this country, I know how to handle things and handle problems."
"This has given me tremendous self-confidence and being able to translate this type of experience to schoolchildren is great."
Canos has been very involved as a community ambbadador since he was at the club in various programs, including workshops on mental health and adult education.
"Brentford is more than a football club in regards to the way he engages in his community," he said.
"These initiatives open your mind and show you things that you might not see as a professional footballer, so it's a pleasure to see the work done and help as much as possible."
Joy of Movement has been delivered by the trusts of 26 football clubs over the last five years.
Brentford now helps set up the Joy of Movement program at 45 elementary schools in four London boroughs
Brentford Vice President Donald Kerr is also a board member of the EFL Trust, which explains that such programs are about using football to change lives.
"It's a unique vehicle and we find that it's also international and everyone is watching it," he told BBC Sport.
"The joy of moving is fantastic with children because health and obesity in children are a hot topic.
"It's very important not only to exercise regularly, but also to understand healthy eating, good and bad eating habits, and the right mix of foods."
"In Brentford, we had to expand our initial community network to meet the demands of the program.We now have a partnership with four London boroughs through our Community Sports Trust, which has approximately 45 elementary schools."
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