HOW TO DEVELOP A GROUP CURRICULUM - DEVELOPING AN EXERCISE PROGRAM FOR OVERWEIGHT ADULTS

This paper reports on work to develop introductory exercise courses fo r sedentary, moderately overweight adults. The aim is to offer a safe and motivating programme of physical exercise and, through experientia l learning, to encourage and facilitate increased physical activity. T he core of the programme is a course of 10-20 weekly exercise classes. The classes include a variety of physical exercises adapted to the sp ecial needs of overweight adults (BMI 28-34 kg/m(2)) and a number of h ealth-related fitness tests. We outline the underlying principles of t he exercise courses, their structure and contents, the guidelines of i nstruction, and the use of formative evaluation. In addition; we repor t on the implementation of five weight-reduction courses and six exerc ise courses involving a total of 209 participants. A fairly high level of programme acceptability (in terms of attendance rates and personal commitment) and programme feasibility (in terms of acceptability, cha nges in personal orientation towards health and weight reduction, and satisfaction among participants) was achieved. (C) 1998 Elsevier Scien ce Ireland Ltd.