Exceptional opportunity!

National Sports Academy “Vassil Levski” gives you the opportunity to participate in a 6-month weight reduction program comprising supervised physical activity sessions and nutritional counseling. The program will be carried out by trained professionals in the field of sport physiology, physical therapy, and dietetics. Direct medical supervision will be ensured by highly qualified endocrinologists, cardiologists, gastroenterologists, and sports medicine doctors, and will include a wide spectrum of laboratory analyses.

Obesity – a global pandemic

The prevalence of overweight and obesity is rapidly increasing worldwide causing huge socio-economical burden. From being only rare aesthetic problems a few decades ago, at present they are among the most common metabolic disturbances causing relevant health consequences. According to the International Obesity Task Force at present 1.1 billion individuals worldwide are estimated to be overweight, with some 250 million of them – obese. These numbers are expected to continue growing and to reach respectively 700 million and 2.3 billion in five years.

Obesity – a major health issue

The accumulation of lipids in metabolically active tissues and in the abdominal area, typical for obesity, is associated with a number of cardio-metabolic disturbances collectively known as the Metabolic Syndrome. The Metabolic Syndrome per se is characterized by insulin resistance, a prothrombotic and a proinflammatory state and represents greatly increased risk for the development of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and type 2 diabetes mellitus. CVDs manifested as myocardial infarction or brain stroke are among the leading causes for premature mortality worldwide. Bulgaria has one the highest CVD-related mortality rates in the EU which continues growing.

The influence of physical inactivity and food overconsumption

Reduced physical activity and the consumption of energy-dense foods, typical for the present-day lifestyle, are considered to be largely responsible for the increasing rate of obesity as well as for the development of obesity-related co-morbidities. At the same time regular physical activity and balanced nutrition are associated with enhanced health, decreased risk for obesity, CVD, and diabetes and decreased all-cause mortality.

Therefore, public health authorities have developed physical activity recommendations, promoting at least 150 min of moderate intensity aerobic physical activity in combination with 2 strength training sessions per week. In addition modification of the nutritional habits aiming at reducing energy intake as well as the consumption of sugars, saturated fat, salt, and alcohol is strongly encouraged.

These recommendations are, however, hard to be implemented in everyday life due to many limiting factors such as low motivation for lifestyle change, lack of public free of charge sport facilities, and accessible information.

Why should I participate?

Individual approach – every participant in the weight reduction program will receive individually tailored physical activity program and will be included in physical exercise group that is suitable for his/her physical condition.

Trained professionals – The 6-month weight reduction program will be executed by trained professionals in the field of sport physiology, physical therapy, nutrition and dietetics.

Strict medical supervision – the program will be strictly supervised by highly qualified endocrinologists, cardiologists, gastroenterologists, and sports medicine doctors, and will include a wide spectrum of laboratory analyses. Every participant will undergo a thorough medical examination before the begging of the program as well as regular examinations during its implementation.

Regular laboratory examinations – Laboratory blood analyses will be performed before the beginning of the program, at 3 months and after the program is completed. These will give every participant detailed information about his/her metabolic status, as well as about the functioning of the cardiovascular and the endocrine system.

Free of charge participation – participation in the 6-month weight reduction program is absolutely free of charge for all approved candidates that meet the following inclusion criteria:

(weight in kilos / height in meters squared)

For addition information and subscription, please contact:

Tsvetan Stefanov

Mobile.: +359 (0) 888 003 607

E-mail: tsvetan.stefanov@gmail.com

Project members:

Assoc. Prof. Theodora Temelkova-Kurktschiev, MD, PhD – project leader

Tsvetan Stefanov, M.Sc. – project coordinator

Assoc. Prof. Dimo Kurktschiev, MD, PhD

Stanislav Cvetkov, MD, PhD

Iveta Bonova, M.Sc

Anna Vekova, M.Sc.