When a text message arrives on the phone, people pay attention. Perhaps that’s why a study in Australia found that people trying to adopt healthier lifestyle behaviors benefit from getting encouraging text messages.
The Text Message Study:
Researchers recruited 700 people with heart disease; 350 of them were randomly selected to get about 4 text messages every week to help them smoke less, exercise more and eat a better diet. The remaining 350 continued to get their usual care without any text messages.
Text Messages Made a Difference:
After six months, the text recipients had done significantly better at losing weight and lowering cholesterol and blood pressure than the other group. They had also reduced their smoking and increased physical activity.
All of these behaviors can reduce cardiovascular complications and improve survival (and probably quality of life) for people with heart disease. But anyone who has ever tried to quit smoking or drop pounds knows that these simple lifestyle changes are far from easy!
Volunteers in the text message group overwhelmingly found the messages useful and easy to understand.
