The effects of a physical activity intervention based on a fatness and fitness smartphone app for University students Muntaner Mas, Adrià Ortega Porcel, Francisco Bartolomé Exercise Physical fitness Body composition Mobile applications Undergraduate students Smartphone applications Lifestyle The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship and/or publication of this article: This research was partially funded by “Institut de Recerca i Innovació Educativa” under grant number PID_ODS171802. The second author of the study received support from a predoctoral fellowship from Spain’s Ministry of Economy, Industry, and Competitiveness (BES-2014-069063 AEI/FEDER, UE). Since the 2012 Lancet Series on physical activity, progress regarding this topic has been negligible at global level. Thus, improving physical activity levels in specific populations through new methodologies is positioned as a priority. The aim of this study was to determine the effects of a physical activity intervention on body fatness composition, and measured and self-reported physical fitness components based on the use of a smartphone app. The investigation included 100 Spanish university students, cluster-randomized into the smartphone app intervention group or a control group (n = 35 and n = 31 respectively, after applying exclusion criteria). The physical activity intervention comprised a 9-week programme designed to promote a healthy physical activity pattern using a smartphone app. Specifically, an mHealth approach was taken containing five BCTs. The results showed that the intervention group improved their physical fitness (F = 8.1, p = .006) and reported better general scores in self-reported physical fitness (F = 7.4, p = .008) over time, in comparison to the control group. However, the intervention group did not show any changes to their fatness. Further research is needed to disentangle which BCTs are more effective to achieve physical health improvements when using physical activity apps. 2021-06-08T07:10:05Z 2021-06-08T07:10:05Z 2021-01-14 info:eu-repo/semantics/article Muntaner-Mas, A., Sanchez-Azanza, V. A., Ortega, F. B., Vidal-Conti, J., Borràs, P. A., Cantallops, J., & Palou, P. (2021). The effects of a physical activity intervention based on a fatness and fitness smartphone app for University students. Health Informatics Journal. [https://doi.org/10.1177/1460458220987275] http://hdl.handle.net/10481/69041 10.1177/1460458220987275 eng http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/es/ info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Atribución-NoComercial 3.0 España Sage Publications