Snacktivity – WP3, Feasibility Trial v1.0
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Snacktivity to promote physical activity and reduce future risk of disease in the population (work package 3 – feasibility trial)
IRAS ID
285836
Contact name
Amanda Daley
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Birmingham Community Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust
ISRCTN Number
ISRCTN64851242
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
There is strong evidence that being 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) in periods of 10-mins or more. However, few people manage this which puts their health at risk. 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’, throughout the day to achieve 150-minutes of activity per/week.
To allow population-based sampling and for logistical reasons, the Snacktivity intervention has been designed to be delivered within NHS Health Checks and community health services. NHS Health Checks are an ideal setting to test the behaviourally based lifestyle intervention because it is a context that involves, and combines, population-based health screening, disease prevention and management within a single system. Community health services are also an ideal setting because it allows a wide range of the public to be invited to participate, who have no particular motivation to decrease their disease risk through increased physical activity.
Participants will be randomised to receive standard advice about physical activity (large changes) or encouragement to achieve their physical activity by Snacktivity (small changes). We will promote Snacktivity in the intervention group by giving participants a physical activity tracker to help monitor their Snacktivity and overall physical activity and access to an App called SnackApp that prompts people to participate in Snacktivity. We will measure physical activity at the start and 12 weeks later.
REC name
West Midlands - Edgbaston Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
20/WM/0315
Date of REC Opinion
3 Feb 2021
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion