Focus On Fun Gets Teens Active - British Psychological Society

These shrinks are the crazy ones.

Emphasising the emotional benefits of exercise is more effective at increasing levels of physical activity than highlighting traditional health benefits. This is the finding of research published online today, 17th February 2010, in the British Journal of Health Psychology.

The study was carried out by Reema Sirriyeh and colleagues from the University of Leeds. Reema said: "There is evidence that people who believe that physical activity is enjoyable and fun are more likely to engage in sport and exercise. We investigated whether highlighting the emotional benefits of sport and exercise to young people increased their levels of physical activity, more than highlighting the physical health benefits."

128 participants aged 16 to 19 took part in the study; all were recruited from the sixth forms of four schools in West Yorkshire. The teenagers all received a daily text message at 4pm for a period of two weeks. Some teens received text messages that highlighted either the emotional benefits of exercise - such as 'Physical activity can make you feel cheerful. What activity will you do today?' , a second group received texts that highlighted the physical benefits, such as - 'Physical activity can keep your heart healthy. What activity will you do today?' and a further group received text messages that were a combination of the two.

The participants recorded their levels of physical activity using the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ), which measured the time they spent on of moderate and vigorous exercise.

Analysis of the results found that the physical activity levels of all 128 participants increased after the two-week intervention by an average 31.5 minutes of moderate activity a week. The largest increase in physical activity was seen for inactive teenagers who received the text messages that highlighted the emotional benefits of exercise. This was equivalent to 120 more minutes of moderate exercise.

Not only are the results of this 2-week intervention suspect since the data were self-reported, there are also no data to show that any of this made any difference.

But what is most harmful about this type of research is the emphasis on "fun."

When the "fun" stops, there is no reason to continue.

There should be an emphasis on "because it is good for you," assuming that the activity levels are truly in the range of "good for you" (training) and not simply going through the motions (exercise).

Until people get on board for a sustainable reason, they only get on board for the brief period of time while it is "fun."

This will make no significant positive difference and is another "fun" way to turn people from effective and meaningful physical activity, i.e., training.