According to a pilot study, using smartphone reminders to prompt people to get moving may help reduce sedentary behaviour, increase activity and reduce chances of weight gain, higher body mass index (BMI) and obesity.
Researchers Darla E. Kendzor, PhD of the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center and Kerem Shuval, PhD of the American Cancer Society explored whether smartphone interventions have the potential to influence sedentary behaviour.
Participants wore accelerometers to measure movement and carried smartphones for seven consecutive days.
Over the seven-day study period, participants had significantly fewer minutes of daily sedentary time and more daily minutes of active time than controls.
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Accelerometers recorded three per cent less sedentary time than control participants, equalling about 25 minutes of time spent engaged in activity rather than in sedentary behaviour on any given day.
"Smartphone prompts appear to be a promising strategy for reducing sedentary behaviour and increasing activity," the authors said.
The study, supported by the American Cancer Society, appeared in the Journal of Medical Internet Research.