Can technology be used to reduce sedentary behaviour?

What is it about?

More and more evidence suggests that how much we sit (sedentary behaviour) is linked to poor health. We wanted to know if interventions that used technology (e.g. apps, wearables, computer-based, e- and mhealth) were effective in reducing sedentary behaviour. We reviewed the evidence up to 2016.

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Photo by FitNish Media on Unsplash

Photo by FitNish Media on Unsplash

Why is it important?

Based on pooled data from 1402 participants, we found that technology interventions can reduce sedentary behaviour by about 41 minutes per day, but the effects are mostly short to medium term (e.g. <6 months). The quality of the evidence was quite low so we need better designed studies, with objective measures of behaviour, longer-term analyses, and better reporting of behaviour change techniques before we can make confident statements about how effective technology is in reducing how much we sit. Nevertheless, there is definitely potential for using technology to reduce sedentary behaviour.