Academic Journal
Evaluating movement breaks as a public health strategy to mitigate the harms of prolonged sitting: a large-scale pragmatic intervention.
| Τίτλος: | Evaluating movement breaks as a public health strategy to mitigate the harms of prolonged sitting: a large-scale pragmatic intervention. |
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| Συγγραφείς: | Diaz KM; Center for Behavioral Cardiovascular Health, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, New York, USA kd2442@columbia.edu., Murdock ME; Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine, Erie, Pennsylvania, USA., Serafini MA; Center for Behavioral Cardiovascular Health, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, New York, USA., Clark AW; Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Dublin, Ireland., Boudreaux BD; The University of Alabama System, Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA., Duran AT; Center for Behavioral Cardiovascular Health, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, New York, USA., Meshkinpour S; National Public Radio, Washington, District of Columbia, USA., Monteleone K; National Public Radio, Washington, District of Columbia, USA., Cheung YK; Department of Biostatistics, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, New York, USA., Zomorodi M; Stable Genius Productions, Brooklyn, New York, USA. |
| Πηγή: | British journal of sports medicine [Br J Sports Med] 2026 Aug 16; Vol. 60 (16), pp. 1208-1217. Date of Electronic Publication: 2026 Aug 16. |
| Τύπος έκδοσης: | Journal Article; Pragmatic Clinical Trial |
| Γλώσσα: | English |
| Στοιχεία περιοδικού: | Publisher: BMJ Publishing Group Country of Publication: England NLM ID: 0432520 Publication Model: Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1473-0480 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 03063674 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Br J Sports Med Subsets: MEDLINE |
| Imprint Name(s): | Publication: London : BMJ Publishing Group Original Publication: Loughborough, Eng. |
| Ιατρικοί όροι (MeSH): | Walking*/physiology , Sedentary Behavior* , Sitting Position* , Public Health*, Fatigue/prevention & control ; Humans ; Adult ; Female ; Male ; Feasibility Studies ; Middle Aged ; Young Adult ; Affect |
| Περίληψη: | Brief, regular movement breaks have been proposed as a public health strategy to offset the harms of prolonged sedentary behaviour; however, their real-world viability is unclear. This study aimed to assess the implementation potential, effectiveness on psychosocial outcomes and optimal dosing of movement breaks in naturalistic settings. Methods: Adults (n=19 342) enrolled in a 2-week pragmatic intervention embedded within an interactive podcast; of whom 59.4% (n=11 484) initiated the intervention. Participants took 5-minute walking breaks at their self-selected break frequency (three arms: every 30, 60 or 120 min). Implementation potential was assessed using the Feasibility, Acceptability and Appropriateness of Intervention Measures (FIM, AIM, IAM). Fatigue, positive affect and negative affect were assessed pre-intervention and post-intervention. Results: All arms exceeded the viability threshold (>3.0) for implementation outcomes. Feasibility was higher at lower break frequencies (FIM: 30 min=3.41, 60 min=3.80, 120 min=4.01), while acceptability and appropriateness were high across arms (AIM: 30 min=3.91, 60 min=4.03, 120 min=4.03; IAM: 30 min=4.00, 60 min=4.04, 120 min=3.99). Reported fatigue and negative affect decreased and reported positive affect increased significantly across all arms. Improvements showed a dose-response pattern: the 30-minute and 60-minute arms exceeded minimal important difference thresholds for fatigue (change: 30 min=-1.55, 60 min=-1.41, 120 min=-1.19) and positive affect (change: 30 min=1.86, 60 min=1.65, 120 min=1.27), with only the 30-minute arm exceeding the threshold for negative affect (change: 30 min=-1.00, 60 min=-0.92, 120 min=-0.67). Conclusion: In this large-scale, pragmatic intervention, movement breaks demonstrated good implementation potential and effectiveness for improving psychosocial outcomes over the 2-week intervention period. Hourly breaks offered the best balance between feasibility and effectiveness. These findings support movement breaks as a potentially viable public health strategy to reduce the harms of prolonged sedentary behaviour. (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2026. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ Group.) |
| Competing Interests: | Competing interests: All authors have completed the ICMJE uniform disclosure form at http://www.icmje.org/disclosure-of-interest/ and declare the following: two authors (SM and KM) are employees of National Public Radio (NPR), and one author (MZ) was an independent contractor hired by NPR to support production of the Body Electric podcast. NPR did not provide funding for this study and the study was conducted independently by the academic investigators. All other authors declare no other relationships or activities that could appear to have influenced the submitted work. |
| Contributed Indexing: | Keywords: Preventive Medicine; Public health |
| Entry Date(s): | Date Created: 20260623 Date Completed: 20260817 Latest Revision: 20260902 |
| Update Code: | 20260903 |
| DOI: | 10.1136/bjsports-2025-111221 |
| PMID: | 42336621 |
| Βάση Δεδομένων: | MEDLINE |
| ISSN: | 1473-0480 |
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| DOI: | 10.1136/bjsports-2025-111221 |