Fit 24 Technology Intervention YOUTH

Fit 24: Using Technology to Improve Activity and Sleep in Hispanic Youth

The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of a goal-setting intervention that utilizes a Fitbit device and text messaging to improve physical activity and sleep in Hispanic adolescents with obesity.

Hispanic adolescents are disproportionately burdened by obesity and type 2 diabetes compared to non-Hispanic white youth. Disparities in T2D emerge early in life and are driven in part by unhealthy lifestyle behaviors including low levels of physical activity, excessive time spent in sedentary behaviors and short sleep durations. Given that Hispanic youth are the fastest growing pediatric subgroup in the U.S., developing strategies to promote healthy lifestyle behaviors and addressing T2D disparities is a public health imperative. Wearable activity monitoring devices like Fitbits are designed to continuously monitor both wake time and sleep behaviors. Therefore the purpose of this study is to examine the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary efficacy of a 12-week technology-based intervention that uses a Fitbit and text messages grounded in the Self-Determination Theory to promote healthy lifestyle habits and reduce risk for type 2 diabetes among a Hispanic adolescents with obesity.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Self identify as Hispanic or Latino
• obese, defined as body mass index percentile (BMI%) ≥ 95th percentile
• Ages of 14-16 years
• Own his or her own cellphone.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Taking a medication(Steroids) or diagnosed with a condition (i.e. sleep (i.e. sleep apnea) that influences activity, sleep, and/or cognition
• Recent hospitalization or injury that prevents normal physical activity
• pregnant
• currently enrolled in an exercise program or currently using a personal activity monitoring device like Fitbit.