Virtual fitness buddy ecosystem: a mixed reality precision health physical activity intervention for children.
rct · Level II
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 38773297.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41746-024-01133-5 and PMC identifier 11109260.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
6-11-year-old children provide a critical window for physical activity (PA) interventions. The Virtual Fitness Buddy ecosystem is a precision health PA intervention for children integrating mixed reality technology to connect people and devices. A cluster randomized, controlled trial was conducted across 19 afterschool sites over two 6-month cohorts to test its efficacy in increasing PA and decreasing sedentary behavior. In the treatment group, a custom virtual dog via a mixed reality kiosk helped children set PA goals while sharing progress with parents to receive feedback and support. Children in the control group set PA goals using a computer without support from the virtual dog or parents. 303 children had 8+ hours of PA data on at least one day of each of the 3 intervention time intervals. Conversion of sedentary time was primarily to light-intensity PA and was strongest for children with low baseline moderate-to-vigorous PA than children above 45 min of baseline moderate-to-vigorous PA. Findings suggest that the VFB ecosystem can promote sustainable PA in children and may be rapidly diffused for widespread public health impact.