Can I read A Mobile Health Intervention to Encourage Physical Activity in Children: a Randomised Controlled Trial on EtoBox?

A Mobile Health Intervention to Encourage Physical Activity in Children: a Randomised Controlled Trial by Michelle Ng; Elizabeth Wenden; Leanne Lester; Carri Westgarth; Hayley Christian is a Medicine article available to read on EtoBox.

What is A Mobile Health Intervention to Encourage Physical Activity in Children: a Randomised Controlled Trial about?

## Background Despite immense benefits of physical activity on health and developmental outcomes, few children achieve recommended daily levels of physical activity. Given more than half of families with children own a dog, we investigated the effect of a mobile health (mHealth) intervention to encourage dog-facilitated physical activity through increased family dog walking and children’s active play with their dog. ## Methods The PLAYCE PAWS study was a three-armed randomised pilot trial conducted in Perth, Western Australia. Children aged 5-10 years with a family dog were randomised to 4 weeks of either 1) SMS-only intervention, 2) ‘SMS + pedometer’ intervention or 3) ‘usual care’ control. The mHealth intervention involved SMS messages to parents; the ‘SMS + pedometer’ group also received a dog pedometer and personalised dog steps diary. Parent-reported measures were collected at baseline, 1- and 3-months post intervention. The primary outcome was weekly frequency of family dog walking and dog play; secondary outcomes were child attachment to the dog and feasibility of the intervention. ## Results A total of 150 children were randomised in staggered blocks to SMS-only (__n__ = 50

Who reads A Mobile Health Intervention to Encourage Physical Activity in Children: a Randomised Controlled Trial?

Author

Michelle Ng; Elizabeth Wenden; Leanne Lester; Carri Westgarth; Hayley Christian

Published

2022

Language

EN

Field

Medicine (Health Sciences)