Active 10 – A new approach to increase physical activity in inactive people in England

Mike GT Brannan, Charlie Foster, Craig M Timpson, Nick Clarke, Ella Sunyer, Anand Amlani, Marie H Murphy

Research output: Contribution to journalReview article (Academic Journal)peer-review

21 Citations (Scopus)
513 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Public health physical activity (PA) guidelines are failing to increase levels of population PA, requiring a new approach. A national integrated marketing campaign was developed based on published literature and ethnographic research to get inactive lower socioeconomic 40-60 year olds to walk briskly for bouts of 10 or more minutes per day and move towards recommended levels of PA. National and local communications campaigns and partnerships promoted key messages and directed people to a free mobile phone app that provided the user with time, intensity and periodicity of walking, and included goal setting and encouragement to support behaviour change. Campaigns in the summers of 2017 and 2018 achieved around 500,000 downloads of the mobile phone app, with evaluation suggesting increases in brand and app awareness, and those taking action. Active 10 is a promising example of a physical activity promotion campaign based on evidence-based messages tailored for a target audience to change social norms rather than guidelines, an approach recognised as an effective population intervention for increasing walking.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)135-139
Number of pages5
JournalProgress in Cardiovascular Diseases
Volume62
Issue number2
Early online date21 Feb 2019
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Mar 2019

Research Groups and Themes

  • SPS Exercise, Nutrition and Health Sciences

Keywords

  • Behaviour change
  • Health promotion
  • Inactive people
  • Inactivity
  • Mid-life
  • Mobile phone app
  • Physical activity
  • Physical activity guidelines
  • Population intervention
  • Social marketing
  • Technology
  • Walking

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Active 10 – A new approach to increase physical activity in inactive people in England'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this