Snacktivity

The UK population has become less physically active and more sedentary. However, there is strong evidence that physical inactivity and high levels of sitting are associated with poorer health and mortality. Guidance states that over a week, aerobic activity should add up to at least 150-mins of at least moderate-vigorous intensity PA (MVPA) in bouts of 10 minutes or more. One way of achieving this is 30-mins of MVPA on at least five days of the week. Meeting this guidance however means making large changes and very few people achieve this weekly. An alternative whole day approach to PA that could engage and motivate the public to be more physically active is a concept we have called Snacktivity.

Snacktivity focuses on promoting small (2-5 mins), but frequent, doses of regular MVPA throughout the day. Reviews of small intervention studies and acute experimental studies suggest the small change approach can result in reduced risk factor outcomes for chronic diseases, but it is not known whether this approach is acceptable, effective, or easier to sustain over time, than a large change approach. We will conduct a series of studies to develop and refine the Snacktivity intervention, including a phase III RCT recruiting 966 participants with 3 and 12-month follow-ups. We plan to use a smartphone application (SnackApp) synchronised with a wrist worn PA tracker with the specific aim of facilitating self-monitoring of Snacktivity and offering feedback on behaviour. This study is funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR).