The Virtual Fitness Buddy Ecosystem: Using Digital Technology to Promote and Sustain Moderate-to-Vigorous Intensity Physical Activity in Children

虚拟健身伙伴生态系统：利用数字技术促进和维持儿童中等到剧烈强度的身体活动

• 批准号: 10214665
• 负责人: Sun Joo Joo Ahn
• 金额: $ 63.18万
• 依托单位: UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 财政年份: 2017
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2017-08-15 至 2024-06-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10214665
• 关键词: Address; Adult; Age; Awareness; Car Phone; Cardiovascular Diseases; Child; Chronic; Chronic Disease; Collaborations; Control Groups; Data Reporting; Development; Devices; Diffusion; Ecosystem; Frequencies; Gender; Generations; Goals; Health; Health Promotion; Health behavior; Human; Incentives; Influentials; Intervention; Learning; Left; Life; Life Style; Malignant Neoplasms; Mediating; Monitor; Motivation; Non-Insulin-Dependent Diabetes Mellitus; Obesity; Outcome; Parent-Child Relations; Parents; Patient Self-Report; Physical activity; Prevalence; Prevention program; Primary Prevention; Public Health; Randomized; Randomized Controlled Trials; Reporting; Research Personnel; Rewards; Risk; Self Determination; Self Efficacy; Social support; Source; System; Technology; Testing; Time; United States; Youth; after-school program; age group; base; cost; design; digital; exercise intervention; experience; extrinsic motivation; fitness; follow-up; interest; new technology; obesity in children; parental involvement; prevent; programs; social; social relationships; standard of care; theories; treatment group; vigorous intensity; virtual; virtual intervention

PROJECT SUMMARY Childhood obesity poses a critical public health concern, with obese children vulnerable to the development of potentially fatal chronic diseases. Scientific evidence has demonstrated that daily physical activity (PA) is imperative in preventing the onset of obesity. In an effort to develop engaging health interventions to promote PA among children, researchers are incorporating digital technology as a platform for health promotion. These interventions often focus on extrinsic rewards as the primary source of motivation, incentivizing children with points for being active. Emerging evidence indicates that technology-mediated health interventions that encourage children to focus solely on winning extrinsic rewards and isolate young people from social supports for PA have limited effects that may disappear altogether when the extrinsic rewards stop. We propose to evaluate a novel technology-mediated health intervention: the Virtual Fitness Buddy (VFB) Ecosystem was designed to encourage children to embrace PA as a lifestyle change rather than a means to gain points. The Ecosystem leverages existing social relationships in children’s lives, primarily the parent-child relationship, capitalizing on the power of social support that parents provide to children. Using consumer-grade technology devices, such as mobile phones, parents can stay involved in the intervention and support their children even when they cannot be with their children. In addition, a virtual pet, designed to mimic human-pet relationships in the physical world, will guide children to set and meet PA goals and offer tailored support. Using technology to amplify the power of existing social relationships, children will learn to embrace PA as a lifestyle change while supported by their parents and the virtual pet within the Ecosystem. In collaboration with YMCA, 720 children and 720 parents in 24 afterschool programs will randomly be assigned to treatment and control groups in a cluster-randomized controlled trial. Afterschool programs in the treatment group will offer the VFB Ecosystem intervention for a 3-month period; programs in the control group will receive standard of care without the Ecosystem. All children will complete baseline assessments, 3-month posttest, 6-month follow up, and a 12-month follow up of PA outcomes. Parents and youth will also provide self-report data on their perceived relationship quality, motivation, and PA self-efficacy. We aim to test the hypotheses that 1) youth assigned to the VFB Ecosystem will evince higher levels of moderate-to-vigorous intensity PA than those in the control group, and 2) test the parent and youth mechanisms of change, including parent-child interaction, children’s perceived level of social support, and parental involvement in children’s PA. The VFB Ecosystem represents a new generation of technology-mediated health interventions for children, which integrates technology into existing social systems, to promote sustainable lifestyle changes. Because the Ecosystem is a cost- and labor-effective solution that integrates consumer-grade technology with low barriers for continued use, it has the potential for rapid diffusion and widespread public health impact.

项目摘要 儿童肥胖症是一个严重的公共卫生问题，肥胖儿童容易发展为 可能致命的慢性疾病。科学证据表明，日常体力活动（PA） 预防肥胖症的发生。为了努力制定参与性的卫生干预措施， 在儿童中，研究人员正在将数字技术作为促进健康的平台。这些 干预措施往往侧重于外在奖励作为动机的主要来源， 点是积极的。新出现的证据表明，技术介导的健康干预措施， 鼓励孩子们只关注赢得外在奖励，并将年轻人与社会支持隔离开来 对PA的影响有限，当外在奖励停止时可能会完全消失。 我们建议评估一种新的技术介导的健康干预：虚拟健身伙伴（VFB） 生态系统旨在鼓励儿童接受PA作为一种生活方式的改变，而不是一种手段， 获得积分。生态系统利用儿童生活中现有的社会关系，主要是亲子关系 关系，利用父母提供给孩子的社会支持的力量。使用消费级 技术设备，如移动的电话，父母可以继续参与干预，并支持他们 即使他们不能和孩子在一起。此外，一个虚拟宠物，旨在模仿人类宠物 在物理世界中的关系，将引导儿童设定和实现PA的目标，并提供量身定制的支持。 使用技术来放大现有社会关系的力量，孩子们将学会接受PA作为一个 生活方式的改变，同时支持他们的父母和虚拟宠物在生态系统中。 在与基督教青年会合作，720名儿童和720名家长在24个课后计划将随机 在一项随机分组的对照试验中被分配到治疗组和对照组。学校的课后计划 治疗组将提供为期3个月的VFB生态系统干预;对照组的程序 在没有生态系统的情况下也能得到标准的治疗所有儿童将完成基线评估，3个月 后测、6个月随访和12个月随访PA结局。家长和青少年也将提供 自我报告的数据，他们的感知关系质量，动机和PA自我效能。我们的目标是测试 假设1）分配到VFB生态系统的年轻人将表现出更高水平的中度到重度 PA强度高于对照组，2）测试父母和青年的变化机制，包括 亲子互动，儿童的感知水平的社会支持，和父母参与儿童的PA。 VFB生态系统代表了新一代以技术为媒介的儿童健康干预措施， 它将技术融入现有的社会系统，以促进可持续的生活方式的改变。因为 生态系统是一个成本和劳动力有效的解决方案，它将消费级技术与低成本技术相结合， 由于继续使用的障碍，它有可能迅速传播和广泛的公共卫生影响。

项目成果

Scaling the Virtual Fitness Buddy Ecosystem as a School-Based Physical Activity Intervention for Children.

• DOI: 10.1109/mcg.2021.3130555
• 发表时间: 2022-01
• 期刊: IEEE computer graphics and applications
• 影响因子: 1.8

Agreement between Fitbit and ActiGraph Estimates of Physical Activity in Young Children.

Fitbit 和 ActiGraph 对幼儿身体活动的估计之间的一致性。

• DOI: 10.1080/1091367x.2022.2125319
• 发表时间: 2023
• 期刊: Measurement in physical education and exercise science
• 影响因子: 2.1
• 作者: Schmidt,MichaelD;Rathbun,StephenL;Chu,Zhixuan;Boudreaux,BenjaminD;Hahn,Lindsay;Novotny,Eric;Johnsen,Kyle;Ahn,SunJooGrace
• 通讯作者: Ahn,SunJooGrace

Using virtual agents to increase physical activity in young children with the virtual fitness buddy ecosystem: Study protocol for a cluster randomized trial.

• DOI: 10.1016/j.cct.2020.106181
• 发表时间: 2020-12
• 期刊: Contemporary clinical trials
• 影响因子: 2.2
• 作者: Hahn L;Schmidt MD;Rathbun SL;Johnsen K;Annesi JJ;Ahn SJG
• 通讯作者: Ahn SJG