Snacktivity WP2- Think Aloud Study
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Snacktivity to Promote Physical Activity and Reduce Future Risk of Disease in the Population (WP2 - Think Aloud Study)
IRAS ID
284852
Contact name
Amanda Daley
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Birmingham Community Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 0 months, 0 days
Research summary
There is strong evidence that being physically active and sitting less is important for health. Guidance states that adults should, over a week, complete at least 150-minutes of moderate to vigorous intensity physical activity (30-minutes per/day). However, few people manage this which puts their health at risk. This is concerning and we need new ways to help people to be active daily. The reason why so few people are meeting the current physical activity guidance may be because they have to make big changes to their lifestyle, which can be too difficult. An alternative is an idea we have called ‘Snacktivity’. Rather than encouraging people to do 30-minutes of physical activity each day in one go, or in 10 min periods, Snacktivity focuses on encouraging people to do small physical activity ‘snacks’ or ‘bites’, throughout the whole day so they achieve 150-minutes of activity per/week. Snacktivity may encourage people to break up their sitting throughout the day: ‘move more often and sit less’. A physical activity snack might typically last between 2-5-minutes (e.g. walk-talk meetings/conversations; using the stairs rather than lifts; walking while on the phone and taking the dog for extra short walks). Small changes are easier for people to make than large ones. A common reason for being inactive is lack of time; Snacktivity provides an opportunity to address this. The easiest forms of physical activity are those that can be fitted into daily lives, which may make Snacktivity a more acceptable approach. Snacktivity may appear worthwhile, but evidence about whether people will do it and whether it works is needed before it can be recommended to the public. In this study Snacktivity will be promoted through a phone App called the SnackApp which will be linked to an activity tracker watch (FitBit) and our aim is to gather feedback on the use and acceptability of the SnackApp from participants over a three-week period. In addition, this study will train health care professionals to promote Snacktivity during their routine consultations with members of the public and then gather feedback from these health care professionals about doing this. We will use all the information collected in this study to plan a bigger study to test Snacktivity in more detail.
REC name
London - Surrey Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
20/PR/0589
Date of REC Opinion
2 Nov 2020
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion