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FINNUT-Forskning og innovasjon i utdanningssektoren

YourMove! Developing an App-Delivered Motivation Programme for Physical Activity Education in High Schools (Upper Secondary/VGS)

Alternative title: YourMove! Utvikling og uttesting av et digitalt verktøy for fremming av sunn motivasjon for kroppsøvingsfaget i VGS.

Awarded: NOK 12.6 mill.

The World Health Organization recommends that adolescents should engage in more than 150 mins. of physical activity of moderate intensity per week, or at least 75 mins. of vigorous physical activity per week. Globally, more than 80% of adolescents (aged 11-17 years) do not meet these criteria, and adolescents in Norway are significantly less physically active now compared to 20-30 years ago. Trøndelag County Council, which is responsible for high school education (videregående opplæring/VGO) in the Trøndelag region of Middle Norway, is strongly concerned about the physical health status of their current high school students, and in particular those who are educated to perform in jobs which are physically demanding, such as carpenters, electricians, and health care employees. Traditional physical activity education seems to fail in creating a lifelong motivation for exercise and an active lifestyle. Thus, new pedagogical tools are needed to counteract this development, aiming at promoting healthy and longterm interest and motivation for physical activity. The YourMove!-project aim at promoting physical activity, and well-being, through co-developing – with students and teachers – an 8-week motivation program delivered through the facilities of a mobile application, and then to integrate it into high school education with two participating high schools. The professional content of the YourMove!-intervention is based on state-of-the art knowledge on exercise motivation. we will investigate outcomes of the YourMove!-intervention on objective physical health measures (VO2max, BMI), subjective physical health (bodily satisfaction, stress, sleep), and mental health (subjective well-being, affect). The project has the potential of significantly reducing societal costs and social inequalities related to physical inactivity. If found effective, the program may be distributed to high schools throughout Norway, and also, will add new knowledge to the mHealth-field.

In this collaborative project targeted toward the public sector, the project group (NTNU, UQAM, MyWorkout, Trøndelag County Council, Utdanningsforbundet) will develop, and test, the effect of an app-integrated intervention program for physical activity education in high-schools. Underpinnings of the program are based on published work by the primary PI and his coworkers (Berg, Forest, & Stenseng, 2020) as well as recent developments within DBCI's (digital behaviour change interventions). The YourMove!-project aim at promoting physical activity, and well-being, through co-developing – with students and teachers – an 8-week motivation program delivered through the facilities of a mobile application, and then to integrate it into the respective high school educations with two participating high schools (Charlottenlund VGS, Heimdal VGS). The professional content of the YourMove!-intervention is based on state-of-the art knowledge on exercise motivation, education theory, and research designs. An eclectic methodological research approach will be taken, included randomized controlled trials (cluster RCT's), in-depth interviews, focus groups, action research (user-involvement on feasibility and usability), and longitudinal data to determine longer-term effects beyond the time span of the program. In complementary samples, we will investigate outcomes from the intervention on objective physical health measures (VO2max, BMI), subjective physical health (bodily satisfaction, stress, sleep), and mental health (subjective well-being, affect). The project has the potential of significantly reducing societal costs and social inequalities related to physical inactivity. If found effective, the program may easily be distributed to high schools throughout Norway, and also, will add new knowledge to the eHealth-field, and to the already research-driven evolvement of the MyWorkout-app.

Funding scheme:

FINNUT-Forskning og innovasjon i utdanningssektoren