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Virtual Fitness Buddy for Physical Activity

Phase 2
Waitlist Available
Led By Sun Joo (Grace) Ahn, Ph.D.
Research Sponsored by University of Georgia
Eligibility Criteria Checklist
Specific guidelines that determine who can or cannot participate in a clinical trial
Must have
Participating parent must be the caregiver for the child for the majority of the week
Children must be between the ages of 6-10
Timeline
Screening 3 weeks
Treatment Varies
Follow Up 12 months
Awards & highlights

Study Summary

This trial capitalizes on digital technologies' ability to connect parents and children, allowing parents to actively support their child's physical activity, even when parents cannot be present.

Who is the study for?
This trial is for children aged 6-10 who attend a specific afterschool program daily. Only the oldest child and one caregiver, who must be the primary guardian during the week, can join. It's not for families planning to move soon or if the child has disabilities that limit independent physical activity.Check my eligibility
What is being tested?
The study tests a Virtual Fitness Buddy (VFB) Ecosystem—a kiosk with a virtual dog that interacts with kids wearing Fitbits to encourage them to meet exercise goals. Parents receive updates via text and can send encouragement back, aiming to boost kids' motivation and parent-child communication about fitness.See study design
What are the potential side effects?
Since this intervention involves digital technology and physical activity rather than medication, traditional side effects are not expected. However, there may be risks of overexertion or injury from increased physical activity.

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

You may be eligible if you check “Yes” for the criteria below
Select...
I am the main caregiver for my child most of the week.
Select...
My child is between 6 and 10 years old.

Timeline

Screening ~ 3 weeks
Treatment ~ Varies
Follow Up ~12 months
This trial's timeline: 3 weeks for screening, Varies for treatment, and 12 months for reporting.

Treatment Details

Study Objectives

Outcome measures can provide a clearer picture of what you can expect from a treatment.
Primary outcome measures
Body fat percentage
Height
Motivation
+5 more

Trial Design

2Treatment groups
Experimental Treatment
Active Control
Group I: TreatmentExperimental Treatment1 Intervention
The virtual pet functions as a personalized fitness buddy to encourage children to set and meet physical activity goals, promote physical activity self-efficacy, and foster mutually supportive relationships among children, parents, and the virtual pet. Concurrently, the kiosk sends a text message to parents on the child's physical activity progress. Parents are then able to send words of encouragement and communicate with their children via the kiosk, using the text messaging feature of their mobile phones. Parents will also receive text messages from the kiosk with a security code to access a website that provides detailed records of the child's physical activity over time. Participants will be assessed for post-treatment measurements immediately after 3 months, 6 months after, and 12 months after the intervention.
Group II: ControlActive Control1 Intervention
The children will receive the standard of care at their respective afterschool programs. As with the treatment group, all children will be asked to wear their Fitbits for one year following the intervention period, for the mid- and long-term follow up. Fitbit data will be recorded tracked year-round through the automated Fitbit data syncing stations at the afterschool program site. All participants will be assessed for PA and psychosocial variables at the same four measurement points for the treatment group.

Find a Location

Who is running the clinical trial?

University of GeorgiaLead Sponsor
100 Previous Clinical Trials
33,694 Total Patients Enrolled
YMCA of Metropolitan AtlantaOTHER
1 Previous Clinical Trials
Sun Joo (Grace) Ahn, Ph.D.Principal InvestigatorUniversity of Georgia

Media Library

Virtual Fitness Buddy Ecosystem Clinical Trial Eligibility Overview. Trial Name: NCT03524183 — Phase 2
Physical Activity Research Study Groups: Treatment, Control
Physical Activity Clinical Trial 2023: Virtual Fitness Buddy Ecosystem Highlights & Side Effects. Trial Name: NCT03524183 — Phase 2
Virtual Fitness Buddy Ecosystem 2023 Treatment Timeline for Medical Study. Trial Name: NCT03524183 — Phase 2

Frequently Asked Questions

These questions and answers are submitted by anonymous patients, and have not been verified by our internal team.
Recent research and studies
clinicaltrials.govStudy
Virtual Fitness Buddy Ecosystem
Sun Joo (Grace) Ahn, PHD 2018. "Virtual Fitness Buddy Ecosystem". ClinicalTrials.gov. https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03524183.
~28 spots leftby Jun 2024
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