Participants were enthusiastic about Snacktivity™, with some stating that activity snacks were more accessible than traditional exercise, but perceived they were often prevented from doing so in the presence of others.

Using repeated semi-structured interviews and a think aloud protocol, this study explored participants’ experiences of integrating Snacktivity™ into daily life, to provide insights to refine the delivery of Snacktivity™ interventions. Physically inactive adults recruited via primary care and a community health service engaged with an intervention to encourage Snacktivity™ over three weeks, which included using a Fitbit linked to a mobile phone app (SnackApp).

This study offers insights for translating guidance into practice and supporting people to become more physically active.

What next?

This study has offered some new insights about the Snacktivity™ approach to promoting physical activity, and these findings now need to be translated into testing real world interventions that can prompt the integration of Snacktivity™ into the daily lives of the population.

Citation details

Krouwel M, Greenfield SM, Chalkley A, Sanders JP, Parretti HM, Gokal K, Jolly K, Skrybant M, Biddle SJH, Greaves C, Maddison R, Mutrie N, Ives N, Esliger DW, Sherar L, Edwardson CL, Yates T, Frew E, Tearne S, Daley AJ. Promoting participation in physical activity through Snacktivity: A qualitative mixed methods study. PLoS One. 2023. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0291040

Acknowledgements

This project was funded as part of the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) under its Program Grants for Applied Research (RP-PG-0618-20008). This research was supported by the NIHR Leicester Biomedical Research Centre.