BARIMOV encourages movement and combats sedentary behaviour in women w/ obesity

Every Wednesday morning, at Hospital de São Sebastião (Unidade Local de Saúde (ULS) de Entre Douro e Vouga), in Santa Maria da Feira, the BARIMOV Project – Effects of reducing sedentary behaviour on physical fitness and the pathophysiology of obesity in women before and after bariatric surgery is presented to women who may undergo bariatric surgery.

Notícias Lusófona attended the morning session held on 18 February, which included the participation of Eduardo Teixeira, Director of the Master’s in Exercise and Health at Lusófona University - Porto University Centre, and Marta Guimarães, Surgeon at Hospital de São Sebastião.

Professor Eduardo Teixeira explained that BARIMOV — a project resulting from a collaboration protocol between our institution, the Unidade Local de Saúde de Entre Douro e Vouga (ULSEDV), and the Unidade Multidisciplinar de Investigação Biomédica (UMIB) of the Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas Abel Salazar da Universidade do Porto (ICBAS) — “has as its main objective to educate patients about the risks of sedentary behaviour and to reduce sedentary habits throughout the therapeutic pathway, both before and after bariatric surgery”.

Dr Marta Guimarães explained what bariatric surgery consists of — a surgical procedure involving stomach reduction — outlining the different types of bariatric surgery performed, the required prerequisites, associated risks, the type of diet that must be followed, such as the ketogenic diet, and how the entire pre- and post-operative process works.

For those about to begin this procedure, reducing sedentary behaviour is extremely important throughout the entire surgical journey, as this behavioural change, combined with surgery, enables patients to achieve a better quality of life. Hence the importance of this project.

Eduardo Teixeira and the students from his master’s programme are responsible for assessing the physical fitness of these individuals. This field experience allows students “to integrate multidisciplinary teams within a hospital environment and to work specifically in the area of exercise and health with populations that need it most, with people living with obesity being one of those populations”.

The BARIMOV project therefore emerges as a concrete response to the challenge of sedentary lifestyles, seeking to ensure that every daily movement is valued and integrated into participants’ lives, contributing to improved health and quality of life throughout obesity treatment. Text edited by Susana A. Oliveira

Text
Bruna Pereira

Video (capture)
Gabriel Motta

Video (editing)
Lara Sousa