A NEW football club that encourages men who are overweight or obese men to get fit and adopt a healthy lifestyle, is being launched in Cowes.

MANvFAT Football Cowes is set to launch at Cowes Enterprise College next Friday, February 16.

Sessions will take place on a weekly basis, every Friday, and follows an already successful programme in Sandown, which helped men lose a combined total of more than one ton (1,050kg) of unhealthy weight last year. 

Isle of Wight County Press:

The first 14-week season, funded by the Isle of Wight Council in partnership with MANvFAT is free, but eligibility criteria applies and spaces are limited.

Sign up here for MANvFAT Football Cowes

According to the Director of Public Health, the number of adults on the Island overweight or living with obesity is at 63 per cent.

At a MANvFAT session of 30-minute games of six-a-side football, players are weighed to monitor their weekly weight loss progress.

Extra goal bonuses awarded to teams based on their weight loss and a team’s combined weight loss and match scores contribute to its league position.

MANvFAT Football's head of football, Richard Crick, said: “The ton of weight lost at our first Isle of Wight club in Sandown, is testament to sheer hard work and determination."