E-HEALTH UTILIZATION TO SUPPORT SEDENTARY BEHAVIOR PREVENTION AMONG HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS: A ONE-GROUP PRETEST–POSTTEST STUDY

Abstract

Background: Sedentary behavior and insufficient physical activity are important health concerns during adolescence. Digital health tools can provide self-monitoring and timely prompts that may help students become more active during school-day routines. Objective: To examine changes in physical activity after a short e-health intervention designed to support sedentary behavior prevention among high school students. Methods: A pre-experimental one-group pretest–posttest study was conducted in March–April 2026 at a senior high school in Tangerang City, Indonesia. Thirty-six grade XI students aged 15–18 years were selected using cluster sampling. The 10-day intervention combined daily step monitoring using Google Fit, snack-exercise reminders delivered through Google Classroom, and a digital activity log. Physical activity was assessed before and after the intervention using the Global Physical Activity Questionnaire (GPAQ). Because the available analytic dataset contained total physical activity expressed as MET-minutes/week, the primary outcome was change in physical activity rather than direct sedentary time. Results: Most participants were female (63.9%). During the intervention, 97.2% used both e-health features on 6–10 days. Mean physical activity increased from 1,927.78 to 3,079.44 MET-minutes/week; median values increased from 1,050 (IQR 525–2,135) to 1,980 (IQR 1,235–3,135). All 36 participants had positive ranks. The Wilcoxon signed-rank test showed a significant pre–post difference (Z = −5.232; p < 0.001). Conclusion: A 10-day e-health intervention combining step monitoring and snack-exercise reminders was followed by a significant increase in physical activity among high school students. The approach may support sedentary behavior prevention, but controlled studies with direct sedentary-time outcomes are needed to establish causal effectiveness.