Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2023 Oct 5;13(10):e076123.
doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2023-076123.

Effects of a physical activity promotion programme on body composition in emerging adults with physical inactivity: a study protocol of a randomised controlled trial

Tao Xu  1 , Yuexian Tao  2 , Rong Chen  1 , Garry Strachan  3 , Xintong Cai  1 , Chengyi Liu  1
Affiliations

Effects of a physical activity promotion programme on body composition in emerging adults with physical inactivity: a study protocol of a randomised controlled trial

Tao Xu et al. BMJ Open. .

Abstract

Introduction: A dramatic decline in physical activity may occur in emerging adulthood because of a major transition over the course of a life. The potential for implementing structured behaviour modification strategies to enhance risk-reducing clinical outcomes is widely recognised. The active participation of clients in the discussion and care process is crucial for optimising intervention outcomes and enhancing individuals' motivation to adopt and maintain healthy behaviours. This study therefore aims to evaluate the effectiveness of a physical activity promotion programme based on the goal attainment theory in relation to emerging adults' body composition, using a face-to-face and e-health blended interventions.

Methods and analysis: A two-arm, double-blind, randomised, controlled study will be conducted in 114 university students aged 18-25 years with physical inactivity. The intervention assignment will be blind to study participants, outcome assessors and study statisticians. A goal achievement theory-based physical activity promotion programme is developed in this study, which is a 16-week, face-to-face and e-health-blended physical activity promotion intervention. After informed consent, participants will be randomly assigned to either a control group or a treatment group before the start of the study. The primary outcome is body composition (ie, skeletal muscle mass, body fat mass, body mass index and body fat percentage). Other outcomes include physical activity level, goal attainment scale scores, exercise self-efficacy and motivation level, which will be assessed during the intervention (every 4 weeks) and at the 1 month follow-up. Continuous variables have means and SD, while categorical variables have frequencies and percentages. Independent-samples t-tests will be used to compare continuous variable changes. χ2 tests will be used to compare categorical variable changes. Based on the baseline scores, analysis of covariance will compare the follow-up results.

Ethics and dissemination: This study was approved by the Ethics Committee of Hangzhou Normal University (ratification date: 14 November 2022, 2022059). The results of the study will be submitted for publication and dissemination in a peer-reviewed journal.

Trial registration number: NCT05697679.

Keywords: Health Education; Nursing Care; Obesity; PUBLIC HEALTH; Schools.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests: None declared.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
SPIRIT participants’ flow and assessments.CG, control group; GAT-Pap, goal achievement theory-based physical activity; MET, metabolic equivalent; SPIRIT, Standard Protocol Items: Recommendations for Interventional Trials.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Flow diagram of goal achievement theory-based diet and exercise intervention.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Dishman RK, Heath G, Schmidt MD, et al. Physical activity epidemiology. Human Kinetics 2022.
    1. Fardet A, Aubrun K, Rock E. Nutrition transition and chronic diseases in China (1990-2019): industrially processed and animal calories rather than nutrients and total calories as potential determinants of the health impact. Public Health Nutr 2021;24:5561–75. 10.1017/S1368980021003311 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Ding D, Lawson KD, Kolbe-Alexander TL, et al. The economic burden of physical inactivity: a global analysis of major non-communicable diseases. Lancet 2016;388:1311–24. 10.1016/S0140-6736(16)30383-X - DOI - PubMed
    1. Santos AC, Willumsen J, Meheus F, et al. The cost of inaction on physical inactivity to public health-care systems: a population-attributable fraction analysis. Lancet Glob Health 2023;11:e32–9. 10.1016/S2214-109X(22)00464-8 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Arnett JJ. Emerging adulthood. A theory of development from the late teens through the twenties. Am Psychol 2000;55:469–80. - PubMed

Publication types

Associated data