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Background: The COVID-19 pandemic adversely impacted physical activity, but little is known about how contextual changes following the pandemic declaration impacted either the dynamics of people's physical activity or their responses to micro-interventions for promoting physical activity.Purpose: This paper explored the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the dynamics of physical activity responses to digital message interventions.Methods: Insufficiently-active young adults (18-29 years; N = 22) were recruited from November 2019 to January 2020 and wore a Fitbit smartwatch for 6 months. They received 0-6 messages/day via smartphone app notifications, timed and selected at random from three content libraries (Move More, Sit Less, and Inspirational Quotes). System identification techniques from control systems engineering were used to identify person-specific dynamical models of physical activity in response to messages before and after the pandemic declaration on March 13, 2020.Results: Daily step counts decreased significantly following the pandemic declaration on weekdays (Cohen's d = -1.40) but not on weekends (d = -0.26). The mean overall speed of the response describing physical activity (dominant pole magnitude) did not change significantly on either weekdays (d = -0.18) or weekends (d = -0.21). In contrast, there was limited rank-order consistency in specific features of intervention responses from before to after the pandemic declaration.Conclusions: Generalizing models of behavioral dynamics across dramatically different environmental contexts (and participants) may lead to flawed decision rules for just-in-time physical activity interventions. Periodic model-based adaptations to person-specific decision rules (i.e., continuous tuning interventions) for digital messages are recommended when contexts change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Background: Low objective socioeconomic status (SES) and subjective social status (SSS), one's perceived social rank, are associated with obesity. This association may be due, in part, to social status‐related differences in energy expenditure. Experimental studies are needed to assess the extent to which SES and SSS relate to energy expenditure. Objective: Assess the effects of experimentally manipulated social status and SSS on moderate‐to‐vigorous physical activity (MVPA) and sedentary behaviour. Methods: One hundred thirty‐three Hispanic adolescents aged 15–21 were randomized to a high or low social status position, facilitated through a rigged game of Monopoly™. SSS was assessed with MacArthur Scales. Post‐manipulation 24‐h MVPA and sedentary behaviour were assessed via accelerometry. Analyses were conducted with general linear regression models. Results: Experimentally manipulated social status did not significantly affect the total time spent in MVPA or sedentary behaviour; however, identifying as low SSS was significantly associated with less MVPA (p = 0.0060; 18.76 min less). Conclusions: Tewnty‐four‐hour MVPA and sedentary behaviour are not affected by an acute experimental manipulation of social status. However, low SSS, independent of SES, was associated with clinically significant differences in MVPA. SSS may be a better predictor of MVPA than SES among Hispanic adolescents, potentially influencing obesity, and other health‐related outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The research that links excessive screen time to adverse health outcomes is based on self-reported screen use. Few studies have documented how passively-sensed smartphone and app use relate to health behaviors like activity and sitting. Furthermore, they have not considered that daily fluctuations in smartphone/app use may have different relationships to these behaviors than a person’s usual smartphone/app use. This study evaluated whether physical activity or sedentary (sitting) behavior are associated with either smartphone screen time or specific smartphone app use by adolescents and young adults during the COVID-19 pandemic. Adolescents and young adults aged 13–29 years wore activPAL4 micro activity monitors while their smartphones logged daily screen time and app use durations for nine days. Data were collected in 2020–2021 and analyzed in 2022–2023. Participants (N = 125) had a mean (SD) age of 19.7 (4.3) years. Participants’ usual smartphone screen time was negatively associated with daily step counts. Daily deviations in smartphone screen time were negatively associated with daily step counts and moderate-vigorous physical activity durations. Time spent on Instagram, YouTube and, to a lesser extent, TikTok were linked with reduced activity levels. Daily sedentary behavior was not associated with usual or daily screen time. Interventions to promote physical activity during the transition into adulthood may benefit from limiting excessive smartphone screen time. Specific intervention targets could include limiting use of apps with infinite scrolling feeds algorithmically tuned to maintain user engagement, such as Instagram, YouTube and TikTok. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers information on the cross-sectional study regarding the satisfaction with health care among individuals with overweight and obesity. It discusses the significant burden along with increased risks for many clinical conditions. It mentions the importance of providing timely prevention care. It also discusses the weight-based discrimination when seeking care experienced by the individuals with obesity.