Effect of Pilates and Vitamin D Supplementation on Quality of Life (QoL) and Mental Health of Overweight Men: A Randomized Clinical Trial

Background and Aim Evidence shows that vitamin D deficiency and obesity are associated with impaired physical and mental health. This study aims to investigate the effect of Pilates and vitamin D supplementation on quality of life and mental health of overweight men. Methods & Materials This is a randomized clinical trial with a pre-test/post-test design. Fifty overweight men were selected by a convenience sampling method and were randomly divided into four groups of control, exercise, supplementation, and exercise+supplementation. The exercise and combined groups performed 8 weeks of Pilates at an intensity of 50-75% of heart rate reserve, three sessions per week. The supplementation and combined groups received 50,000 IU vitamin D capsule once per week. Assessment tools were the 36-item Short Form survey (SF-36) and the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ). The data were analyzed by paired t-test, one-way ANOVA and Kruskal-Wallis test. P˂0.05 was statistically significant. Ethical Considerations This study was approved by the research ethics committee of Islamic Azad University, Babol Branch, Iran (Code: IR.IAU.BABOL.REC.1398.088). Results Vitamin D status in subjects was lower than normal (