Effectiveness of social media with or without wearable devices to improve physical activity and reduce sedentary behavior: A randomized controlled trial of Chinese postgraduates

Jiaqi Li; Hua Yang; Xiaoqian Song; Minjie Qiao; Haifeng Tao; Wenxin Niu; Jingyuan Chen; Lejun Wang

doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e20400

Effectiveness of social media with or without wearable devices to improve physical activity and reduce sedentary behavior: A randomized controlled trial of Chinese postgraduates

Heliyon. 2023 Sep 22;9(10):e20400. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e20400. eCollection 2023 Oct.

Authors

Jiaqi Li¹, Hua Yang², Xiaoqian Song¹, Minjie Qiao¹, Haifeng Tao¹, Wenxin Niu³, Jingyuan Chen¹, Lejun Wang¹

Affiliations

¹ Sport and Health Research Center, Shanghai YangZhi Rehabilitation Hospital (Shanghai Sunshine Rehabilitation Center), Physical Education Department, Tongji University, Shanghai, China.
² Shaanxi Institute of Sports Science, No. 303 Zhangba East Road, Xi'an City, Shaanxi Province, 710065, China.
³ School of Medicine, Tongji University, Shanghai, China.

Abstract

The present study was aimed to verify whether an integrating of wearable activity tracker device and a social media intervention strategy would be better than a standalone social media intervention for improving physical activity (PA) and reducing sedentary time for Chinese postgraduate population. A total of 42 full-time postgraduate students participated in this study, which were randomized to receive a 4-week social media intervention through WeChat either with (Wearable Device group) or without (control group) a wearable activity tracker device. Energy expenditure, step counts, moderate to vigorous physical activity time (MVPA) and sedentary time were assessed before and after the intervention. Besides, anthropometric parameters of body weight, body mass index, body fat rate, waist-to-hip ratio, as well as self-reported quality of life were also evaluated. It was found that both energy expenditure and step counts were significantly increased, while sedentary time was significantly reduced during the post-intervention test compared to the baseline test for Wearable Device group. No significant difference of PA was found for the control group. The results demonstrated that the integrating of wearable activity tracker device and a social media intervention was effective in promoting PA, while a standalone social media intervention may have no effect on the influence of PA for Chinese postgraduates.

Keywords: Chinese postgraduate; Physical activity; Sedentary time; Social media; Wearable device.