Tweeting to Health

The overall aims for this Young Investigator Award are to pilot test the intervention and social support measures in preparation for a larger intervention study, which will be part of a future NIH Career Development Award application. We hypothesize that our intervention, Tweeting to Health, can motivate and create behavioral changes that lead to healthier lifestyles and foster social support to help facilitate these changes through the novel use of Twitter, a social media platform, and FitBit technology. FitBit devices, accelerometers with integrated data tracking services that can be linked to Twitter accounts, will be used to measure physical activity levels and intensity as self-reported activity is generally over-reported 15 and to assist with tracking of caloric intake.

Principal Investigator: Arlene Chung, MD

Funding: Academic Pediatric Association (APA Young Investigator Award)

Total Project Period: 07/01/2012 – 06/30/2013