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Can a family game add 1,661 steps a day?

Walking

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Can a family game get you walking more?

In one randomized trial, 200 adults in 94 families (mean age 55.4) all tracked their steps and got daily feedback by text or email for 24 weeks. For the first 12, some families also played a game together: points and levels.

With the game they hit their step goal on 0.53 of days vs 0.32, and walked 1,661 more steps a day than at the start vs 636.

12 weeks after the game ended they slipped (0.44 vs 0.33 of days, 1,385 vs 798 steps) but stayed ahead. One trial.

Sources

  1. Patel MS et al. JAMA Intern Med 2017. doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2017.3458

    Read the paper ↗

What the study says

  • “The Behavioral Economics Framingham Incentive Trial (BE FIT) was a randomized clinical trial with a 12-week intervention period and a 12-week follow-up period.”
  • “During the intervention period, participants in the gamification arm achieved step goals on a significantly greater proportion of participant-days (0.53 vs 0.32; adjusted difference, 0.27; 95% CI, 0.20-0.33; P <.001) and had a significantly greater increase in the mean daily steps compared with baseline (1661 vs 636; adjusted difference, 953; 95% CI, 505-1401; P <.001) than the control arm.”
  • “During the follow-up period, physical activity in the gamification arm declined but remained significantly greater than that in the control arm for the proportion of participant-days achieving step goals (0.44 vs 0.33; adjusted difference, 0.12; 95% CI, 0.05-0.19; P <.001) and the mean daily steps compared with baseline (1385 vs 798; adjusted difference, 494; 95% CI, 170-818; P <.01).”
  • “All participants tracked daily step counts using a wearable device or a smartphone, established a baseline, selected a step goal increase, and received daily individual feedback on goal performance by text message or email for 24 weeks. Families in the gamification arm could earn points and progress through levels”

Unaddicted keeps every day you’ve earned, even after a slip.

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