Zamzee – Igniting a Lifetime of Movement in Teens

Summary

To address the problem of sedentary behavior in young teens HopeLab has developed Zamzee, a platform for fun powered by movement. The Zamzee meter records how much teens are moving around, and that activity fuels a fun, dynamic online experience, earning them opportunities to shop, compete with friends and customize their rewards experience online. The more they go, the more they get! Zamzee is fun, it’s social, and it works, increasing movement in teens by 30%—nearly an extra marathon a month. progress report read updates from the field

How You Can Help

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	£19 - links an at-risk teen to a fun, engaging experience that is proven to increase physical activity
	£76 - enables a low-income family of four to use Zamzee together as a means to spend time together, have fun, and move more
	£380 - enables a P.E. teacher to distribute Zamzee to a class of 20 7th graders
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More Information About this Project

Project Needs and Beneficiaries

Rates of childhood obesity in the U.S. have tripled in the past 30 years, and nearly one in five young people in America is obese – with rates exceeding one-third in some areas of the country. Data also show that young people become more sedentary upon entering middle school. Treatment of pediatric obesity-related conditions costs over $14 billion annually in the U.S. and obesity is threatening to undo public health gains achieved by reductions in smoking in the last generation.

Activities

Proven Impact: Randomized, controlled scientific studies involving more than 350 participants and amassing over 10,000 cumulative days of tracking data demonstrate that Zamzee results in sustained increases in physical activity among teens by at least 30%—nearly an extra marathon a month. This research was conducted by HopeLab, with support from Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Funding Information

Total Funding Received to Date: £15
Remaining Goal to be Funded: £18,523
Total Funding Goal: £18,538

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Why this Project is Important

Potential Long Term Impact

Regardless of weight or weight loss, data show that physical activity improves mental and physical well-being and reduces risk of type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke, hypertension, and some cancers. HopeLab’s ultimate vision for impact is to ignite a lifetime of movement, altering teens’ engagement with the physical and digital environments in which they spend their time to support lasting, healthy behaviors and improve long-term health outcomes.

Project Message

“I started doing activity because I wanted to, not because I have to. Zamzee made me feel better.”
- Shruthi, Teenage girl and Zamzee user

Latest Update from the Field

Zamzee Zoomz Into Bay Area Schoolz

By Ellen LaPointe - VP of Strategic Partnerships, March 12, 2012 05:17 PM

We’re delighted to report that Zamzee has made its official San Francisco Bay Area debut. As part of this rollout, HopeLab has begun partnering with over a dozen local school-based and after-school programs to get Zamzee into the hands of middle school-aged kids.

As the Chicago Tribune reported last month, social health games can help make kids trimmer and fitter [see link to article below]. Indeed, young teens inhabit a world where Internet and social engagement through digital media is the norm. They move seamlessly between the virtual and real world, and expect that products should have elements of both.To be relevant and achieve impact in this new reality, it’s been essential that HopeLab intentionally adapt the way we work with young teens to embrace the digital playgrounds they inhabit as critical and potent environments in which to get them moving.

Zamzee leverages the digital settings young teens occupy by motivating real-world physical activity at precisely the time when they are becoming more sedentary and are at increased risk for becoming overweight. Teens themselves control it, and they can use it to create opportunities for movement regardless of the environmental constraints in their lives.

Thanks for helping make Zamzee available to kids who will benefit from it most!