RTÉ Statement: Operation Transformation
Now in its 15th season, Operation Transformation has evolved considerably over the years and now encompasses a more holistic approach to adopting and maintaining a healthy lifestyle as well as losing weight.
In this year’s series, for example, the weekly check in (the part of the show where the Leaders meet the experts) incorporates an overall health check looking at a range of health indicators including blood pressure, cholesterol, hydration, sleep quality and psychological wellbeing. Weekly targets for the Leaders will now be set in a variety of areas. This further demonstrates the holistic nature of the series and all the areas of support and advice our health experts give to our leaders throughout.
In 2021, Healthy Ireland commissioned independent qualitative market research to evaluate the effectiveness of the programme. This confirmed, among other findings, that of those who watched the show:
- 74% said that they had made one or more positive lifestyle changes as a result of watching the show, including 41% being more active, 33% eating healthier food and 23% looking after their mental wellbeing.
- Over 98% of this group said that they were likely to continue with the health behaviour changes that they had made;
- 63% of respondents stated that they have made the changes with their household or family, which demonstrates that the impact is much wider that just the one viewer but rather the entire household.
Operation Transformation prides itself on bringing communities together and getting them up and out in order to improve both their physical and mental health. In previous seasons the leaders have spoken about the long-standing positive influences this experience has given them and viewers have spoken about how the leaders inspired them to do the same.