Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42656675›Full record

ArticleFrontiers in psychiatry2026

Effects of exercise snacks on physical and mental health among sedentary students: a randomized controlled trial study protocol.

Zhenbin Bao, Zezhi Li, Tong Han, Lin Mi, Guoping Qian, Baoguo Li, Zbigniew Ossowski, Sujie Mao, Yintao Niu, Tao Lei and 2 more

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Frontiers in psychiatry, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

12 authors.

Zhenbin BaoDepartment of Physical Culture, Gdansk University of Physical Education and Sport, Gdansk, Poland.
Zezhi LiThe Affiliated Brain Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China.
Tong HanDepartment of Physical Culture, Gdansk University of Physical Education and Sport, Gdansk, Poland.
Lin MiThe Affiliated Brain Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China.
Guoping QianDepartment of Physical Culture, Gdansk University of Physical Education and Sport, Gdansk, Poland.
Baoguo LiCollege of Physical Education, Shihezi University, Shihezi, China.
Zbigniew OssowskiDepartment of Physical Culture, Gdansk University of Physical Education and Sport, Gdansk, Poland.
Sujie MaoGraduate School, Harbin Sport University, Harbin, China.
Yintao NiuDepartment of Physical Culture, Gdansk University of Physical Education and Sport, Gdansk, Poland.
Tao LeiDepartment of Physical Culture, Gdansk University of Physical Education and Sport, Gdansk, Poland.
Jing LiDepartment of Physical Culture, Gdansk University of Physical Education and Sport, Gdansk, Poland.
Jike BaiDongguan Mental Health Center of Southern Medical University (Dongguan Seventh People's Hospital), Dongguan, China.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Sedentary behavior is highly prevalent among university students and is associated with adverse cardiometabolic, inflammatory, and psychological outcomes. Exercise snacks (ES), generally conceptualized as brief, structured bouts of physical activity distributed across the day, have emerged as a time-efficient strategy for improving health, but evidence in sedentary university students remains limited. This study is the initial phase of a multiphase randomised controlled trial program and aims to evaluate the effects of a structured, campus-based stair climbing ES intervention on the physical and mental health of sedentary university students. In this two-arm, parallel-group, superiority trial with blinded outcome assessment and blinded data analysis, 60 sedentary university students will be randomly allocated to an ES group or a usual-lifestyle control group. The intervention consists of a 12-week structured stair-climbing ES programme, including an initial adaptation phase and an intensified progression phase. The primary outcome is maximal oxygen uptake (VO Trial registration: https://www.chictr.org.cn/indexEN.html, identifier ChiCTR2500106549.

Indexed as

exercise prescriptionexercise snackshealth promotionsedentary behavioruniversity students

Identifiers

PMID42656675
PMCPMC13506805

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.