Content Analysis and Children’s Perceptions of Youth-Oriented Websites for Commercially Available Physical Activity Trackers

Abstract

PURPOSE: The purposes of this study were to a) identify the behavior change strategies present on youth physical activity tracker websites and b) describe children’s perceptions of the devices and websites. METHODS: Sixteen participants (age: 8.6±1.6 y) received three commercially available physical activity trackers (MB, SQ, and ZZ) and were briefly oriented to the corresponding websites. Participants were instructed to wear the monitors for 4 consecutive days and spend a minimum of 10 min/d on each website. Participants returned the devices and completed a survey. Chi square analyses were used to determine differences in behavioral monitoring and social interaction features between websites. A content analysis was used to record the presence of 36 possible behavior change strategies for each device/website. Responses to survey questions that aligned with the content analysis were tallied. RESULTS: The MB, SQ, and ZZ devices/websites included only 8, 15 and 14 of the possible 36 behavior change strategies, respectively. All of the websites had a behavioral monitoring feature (charts for tracking activity) but the percentage of participants indicating that they “liked” those features varied by website (MB: 50%, SQ:38%, ZZ: 69%). More users reported they “liked” the ZZ charts (p=0.02) when compared to the MB and SQ activity charts. Two websites (SQ and ZZ) also contained several social support features, including an “avatar” the user could create to represent themselves on the website. Participants reported that they “liked” creating and changing their avatar (SQ: 75%, ZZ: 94%). Most participants (75%) indicated that they would want to wear the devices more if their friends were wearing a tracker. Also, the majority of children reported that “the monitor and website made me want to be more physically active” (MB: 75%, SQ: 75%, ZZ: 94%). No significant differences were observed between devices in regards to social support interactions (p=0.33-0.80). CONCLUSIONS: The websites contained several strategies consistent with previously identified strategies. Children more consistently “liked” the social aspects of the websites more than the activity tracking features. Developers of commercial activity trackers for youth may benefit from considering a theoretical perspective during the website design process. Supported by BOKS Foundation grant.