Pilot Intervention-Exercise for the Weight, Healthy Eating, and Exercise for the Long-Haul

Commercial Motor Vehicle Drivers (CMV Drivers), also known as truck drivers, face many unique challenges in their work environment that adversely impact their health, particularly obesity. Obesity is significantly related to CMV driver occupational injuries and deaths from crashes.1, 2 CMV Driver's challenges include time constraints, limited space inside the truck, mostly sedentary job tasks, poor access for parking large trucks, and a 'moving-workplace' environment. This environment has poor access to inexpensive, ready-to-eat, healthy food and places for exercising and showering. These constraints make it difficult to form and maintain healthy lifestyle habits. That these influences likely contribute to the disproportionately high prevalence of obesity among CMV drivers is supported by an increase in obesity among truckers with longer durations of employment.3

Prior efforts to reduce obesity were not successful for trucking.4-7 However two, short-term pilot studies showed promise utilizing motivational interviewing in achieving a 3.5 kg weight loss.8, 9 Accordingly, development of interventions is needed to improve CMV driver's health and safety through weight loss by helping the truck driver's change his/her response to the unique challenges of their work environment.

Herein, The investigators propose the pilot intervention-exercise (PIE) aspect of the Worksite Health, Eating and Exercising for the Long-haul (WHEEL), a behavior-based intervention. The PIE WHEEL will assess the feasibility, acceptability and potential safety improvements of an exercise intervention on quantifiable outcomes that impact workers compensation concerns including musculoskeletal disorders and slips, trips and falls.

PIE WHEEL will utilize health coaches to deliver an intervention using individual goal setting to establish behaviors (exercise only for this pilot study) known to be associated with successful weight loss and/or weight loss maintenance and subsequent safety outcomes designed to meet the challenges of CMV drivers. The investigators will enroll 15 participants for a 6 week exercise intervention.

SPECIFIC AIMS