Close X
Thursday, November 28, 2024
ADVT 
Tech

App that can make obese people agile

Darpan News Desk IANS, 27 Jun, 2014 12:26 PM
    If you are used to a sedentary lifestyle, this app can help you become a little active.
     
    This smartphone-based app can produce short-term reductions in sedentary behaviour that may be effective in improving health.
     
    More sedentary time, regardless of physical activity levels, is associated with greater risk of obesity, cardiovascular disease and mortality.
     
    "Almost everyone knows that physical activity is important. But it's not widely recognised that someone who runs five miles in the evening but spends the rest of the day sitting at a desk can be putting their health at risk," said co-researcher Dale Bond from The Miriam Hospital, Rhode Island, in the US.
     
    "That smartphone you use so often throughout the day could now actually help to improve your health," he added.
     
    Bond and Graham Thomas from the same institute worked with their colleagues to develop a smartphone-based intervention to reduce the amount of time obese individuals sit or recline while awake.
     
    The smartphone app, "B-Mobile," was tested in a study of primarily middle-aged women who were obese, although the intervention can be applied to those who are not obese.
     
    The app automatically monitored the time participants spent being sedentary, and after an extended period with no activity, prompted participants via a tone paired with motivational messages to get up and walk around for a few minutes.
     
    Participants received feedback providing encouragement for taking a break.
     
    Researchers tested three different approaches to see which was best at reducing the total amount of sedentary time.
     
    Even though all three were successful, researchers found it is better to take shorter breaks more often for better health.
     
    "Prompting frequent, short activity breaks may be the most effective way to decrease excessive sedentary time and increase physical activity in individuals who are overweight or obese," Bond said.
     
    The findings appeared in the journal PLOS ONE.

    MORE Tech ARTICLES

    Great! Now an app to protect your credit card from hacking

    Great! Now an app to protect your credit card from hacking
    Bad news for credit card hackers. Here comes a 'remote control' app that can help you turn your credit cards on and off with the click of a button, and control when, where, and how they are used.

    Great! Now an app to protect your credit card from hacking

    Male Twitter users biased towards women: Study

    Male Twitter users biased towards women: Study
    Gender bias is real on Twitter. According to research, twitter conversations among men feature fewer mentions of women.

    Male Twitter users biased towards women: Study

    Video games of the future to adapt to players' mood

    Video games of the future to adapt to players' mood
    A team of engineers at Stanford University has developed a hand-held controller that allows video games to adapt to a player's level of engagement.

    Video games of the future to adapt to players' mood

    Are you an app addict? Find out

    Are you an app addict? Find out
    Do you open, check and use apps at least 60 times a day? Then you are a mobile phone addict, claims an app analytics firm.

    Are you an app addict? Find out

    China developing Linux-based OS after Windows XP shutdown

    China developing Linux-based OS after Windows XP shutdown
    China will focus on the development of a new operating system (OS) based on Linux to cope with the shutdown of Windows XP, an official said Wednesday.

    China developing Linux-based OS after Windows XP shutdown

    App to protect your kids' privacy on social media

    App to protect your kids' privacy on social media
    Want to share your kids' vacation or wedding photos just with friends and family on Facebook? This new parent-friendly app would make your life easy.

    App to protect your kids' privacy on social media