Effects of Exercise Snacks on Clinical and Health Outcomes

Summary

Physical inactivity and prolonged sedentary behavior are major health concerns, especially for individuals with chronic conditions such as diabetes and prediabetes. Many patients have difficulty following traditional exercise recommendations due to time constraints, limited physical capacity, comorbidities, or lack of access to exercise facilities. Therefore, new and more practical exercise strategies are needed.

"Exercise Snacks" is a novel physical activity approach that involves short bouts of exercise performed multiple times throughout the day. Each session is brief and easy to integrate into daily life, such as performing short periods of resistance exercises, brisk walking, stair climbing, or other simple activities. This approach may improve exercise adherence and provide health benefits without requiring long exercise sessions.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of an Exercise Snacks intervention in sedentary adults with diabetes or prediabetes and to explore its potential effects on cardiovascular and metabolic health, physical function, and body composition.

In this study, sedentary adults aged 18-65 years with diabetes or prediabetes will participate in a 12-week study and will be randomly assigned to either an Exercise Snacks group or a control group. Participants in the Exercise Snacks group will perform short exercise sessions lasting approximately 3-5 minutes, including simple resistance exercises and short aerobic activities. These exercise sessions will be performed several times per day and integrated into daily routines. The control group will maintain their usual lifestyle without additional exercise intervention.

Participants may use wearable devices or mobile applications to receive reminders and record exercise activity. Assessments will be conducted before and after the intervention to evaluate physical activity adherence, physical function, body composition, blood pressure, blood glucose, and other cardiovascular and metabolic health indicators.

This study aims to determine whether short, frequent exercise sessions are a practical and effective alternative to traditional exercise recommendations for sedentary individuals with diabetes or prediabetes. The results of this study may help develop more feasible lifestyle intervention strategies to improve long-term exercise adherence and overall health in individuals with chronic diseases.

Conditions

• Prediabetes / Type 2 Diabetes
• Sedentary Behaviors
• Physical Inactivity

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Exercise Snacks

The Exercise Snacks intervention consists of short bouts of physical activity performed multiple times throughout the day. Each exercise session lasts approximately 3 to 5 minutes and includes simple resistance exercises and short aerobic activities. Resistance exercises may include squats, split squats, resistance band exercises, and curl-ups, while aerobic activities may include brisk walking, stair climbing, running in place, or jumping jacks. Participants will be encouraged to perform at least 3 to 4 exercise sessions per day and integrate these short exercise sessions into their daily routines. Exercise intensity and exercise type will be adjusted according to individual physical capacity and safety considerations. The intervention will be conducted over a 12-week period. Wearable devices or mobile applications may be used to provide exercise reminders, monitor adherence, and record physical activity.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Chimei Medical Center

  lead OTHER

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

PREVENTION

Masking

SINGLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Max Age

65 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2026-05-15

Primary Completion

2026-12-31

Completion

2026-12-31

Countries

• Taiwan

Study Locations