AI Model, Twitter Data Provide Population-Level View of Physical Activity

Using machine learning to comb through exercise-related tweets, researchers identified regional and gender differences in exercise types and intensity levels, providing insights into possible interventions that target certain communities, according to the findings of a study published in BMJ Open Sport & Exercise Medicine. The machine-learning method also allowed researchers to see how different populations feel about different kinds of exercise. The findings revealed that walking was the most popular physical activity for both men and women across all regions. Men and women also mentioned performing gym-based activities at similar rates, with men mentioning such activities in approximately 4.68% of tweets, compared to 4.13% for women. Among these tweets, CrossFit was the most popular among men's tweets, showing up in approximately 14.91%.