Accepted for/Published in: Journal of Medical Internet Research
Date Submitted: Apr 1, 2022
Date Accepted: Feb 10, 2023
Warning: This is an author submission that is not peer-reviewed or edited. Preprints - unless they show as "accepted" - should not be relied on to guide clinical practice or health-related behavior and should not be reported in news media as established information.
The impact of social media interventions on weight reduction and physical activity improvement among healthy adults: a systematic review
ABSTRACT
Background:
A sedentary lifestyle and overweight/obesity are well-established cardiovascular risk factors and contribute significantly to the global burden of disease. Changing such behaviors is complex and requires support to achieve. Social media interventions show promise in supporting health behavior change but their impact is unclear.
Objective:
This review sought to critically appraise the available evidence regarding the impact of social media interventions on physical activity and weight among healthy adults.
Methods:
CINAHL and MEDLINE were searched for relevant randomized trials investigating the impact of social media interventions on weight and physical activity published between 2011 and 2021 in the English language. Eligible studies were appraised for quality and synthesized using a process of narrative synthesis.
Results:
Seventeen papers reporting 16 trials were identified. Nine studies explored the effect on physical activity, six studies investigated weight reduction and one study assessed the effect on both physical activity and weight reduction. Evidence of the effect of the interventions on physical activity and weight was mixed across the included studies.
Conclusions:
Despite the promise of social media interventions, the evidence regarding their effectiveness is mixed. Further robust studies are needed to elucidate the components of social media interventions that lead to successful behavior change. Furthermore, the effect of engagement with digital interventions on behavior change needs to be clearly understood. Clinical Trial: This review was registered in PROSPERO (registration ID: XXXXXX).
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Copyright
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