See how we used Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) via smartphone app could be used as a self-report tool to assess multiple sedentary behaviors among adolescents in their daily lives.
Morning Cognitive States Predict Daily Physical Activity Levels – Findings from an EMA Mobile Phone Study
Ever wondered how you feel in the morning might affect your overall activity levels for that day? Analyzing data from Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) via mobile phones, we found that higher outcome expectancy in the morning as associated with more physical activity that day.
Crowdfunding for Health Research
It’s not only about getting money, but getting exposure for your research
My opinion about using crowdfunding to fund health research. Click to see the full featured news report by The Nation’s Health on scientists turn to public to gain funding for health research.
Can dogs make you more active?
Are dog owners more active when they are with their dogs?
What do people do when with their dogs in their daily lives?
When with their dogs, do people’s feelings differ between active vs. sedentary behaviors?
To find these answers, dive in!
This study used a novel methodology to examine dog owners behaviors and feeling states in real-time, real life.
It’s our choice…
It’s our choices that make us fat, not McDonald’s
Quote from the science teacher who lost 37 pounds from eating nothing but McDonald’s for 3 months.
Take-home message: He watched his daily calorie intake AND chose to walk 45 minutes a day!
Sedentary behaviour is emerging as an independent risk factor for paediatric obesity. Some evidence suggests that limiting sedentary behaviour (e.g., watching TV, playing sedentary video games) alone could be effective in reducing body mass index (BMI) in children. However, whether adding physical activity and diet-focused components to sedentary behaviour reduction interventions could lead to an additive effect is unclear.
Our newest review on interventions that target to limit sedentary behaviour among children reveals that overall, these sedentary behaviour interventions did successfully reduce BMI among children. However, the interventions that had multiple components (i.e., limiting sedentary behavior + promoting physical activity + healthy diet) did not outperform the ones that solely focusing on sedentary behaviour.
This finding leads to the suggestion that future paediatric obesity interventions may consider developing strategies to decrease multiple screen-related sedentary behaviours.
Follow the link below to read this article published in the Obesity Reviews:
Capturing real-time sedentary activity among children
One of the best ways to get a child’s attention is a cellphone. So when USC researchers looked for a way to survey youngsters about sedentary behavior, they turned to mobile phones.
We believe that using mobile phones to prompt electronic surveys randomly in the days is a more accurate snapshot of real-time sedentary activity among children than an after-the-fact survey could accomplish.
Follow the link below to read more about my recently published article titled “Understanding the Physical and Social Contexts of Children’s Non-School Sedentary Behavior: An Ecological Momentary Assessment Study” in the Journal of Physical Activity & Health.
Teenage smoking behavior influenced by friends’ and parents’ smoking habits
The company you keep in junior high school may have more influence on your smoking behavior than your high school friends, according to my newly published research, which appears in the April 12 issue of the Journal of Adolescent Health,
This study identifies how friends’ and parental influence on cigarette smoking changes from junior high to high school.
To read more about this study reported by the Science Daily:
Teenage smoking behavior influenced by friends’ and parents’ smoking habits.
Real-Time Relationships of Feeling States & Physical Activity
Exciting new research on the use of real-time data capture strategies to understand affective responses to physical activity.
See how we use novel real-time data capture techniques to measure people’s mood and feelings (via surveys delivered by mobile phones) and activity level (via accelerometer) throughout their daily lives.
This is also an entry to the Society of Behavioral Medicine 2013 Poster Presenter Video Contest; Deadline to Vote is Tuesday March 19, 2013 at 11:59 pm ET.
Voting is simple: Watch the videos and then vote for your favorite by clicking the “Like” button which is displayed on the left hand side below the video.
Identifying Threshold of Social Influences on Lifetime Smoking Status – A Recursive Partitioning Approach
How many smoker friends one “needs” to have to be considered as at a substantial risk of becoming a smoker him/herself?
This talk was presented at the 33rd Annual Meeting of the Society of Behavioral Medicine, New Orleans, LA, April 2012.
Yue Liao 