Abstract
BackgroundMobile apps are being widely used for delivering health interventions, with their ubiquitous access and sensing capabilities. One such use is the delivery of interventions for healthy eating behavior.ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to provide a comprehensive view of the literature on the use of mobile interventions for eating behavior change. We synthesized the studies with such interventions and mapped out their input methods, interventions, and outcomes.MethodsWe conducted a scoping literature search in PubMed/MEDLINE, Association for Computing Machinery Digital Library, and PsycINFO databases to identify relevant papers published between January 2013 and April 2018. We also hand-searched relevant themes of journals in the Journal of Medical Internet Research and registered protocols. Studies were included if they provided and assessed mobile-based interventions for dietary behavior changes and/or health outcomes.ResultsThe search resulted in 30 studies that we classified by 3 main aspects: input methods, mobile-based interventions, and dietary behavior changes and health outcomes. First, regarding input methods, 5 studies allowed photo/voice/video inputs of diet information, whereas text input methods were used in the remaining studies. Other than diet information, the content of the input data in the mobile apps included user’s demographics, medication, health behaviors, and goals. Second, we identified 6 categories of intervention contents, that is, self-monitoring, feedback, gamification, goal reviews, social support, and educational information. Although all 30 studies included self-monitoring as a key component of their intervention, personalized feedback was a component in 18 studies, gamification was used in 10 studies, goal reviews in 5 studies, social support in 3 studies, and educational information in 2 studies. Finally, we found that 13 studies directly examined the effects of interventions on health outcomes and 12 studies examined the effects on dietary behavior changes, whereas only 5 studies observed the effects both on dietary behavior changes and health outcomes. Regarding the type of studies, although two-thirds of the included studies conducted diverse forms of randomized control trials, the other 10 studies used field studies, surveys, protocols, qualitative interviews, propensity score matching method, and test and reference method.ConclusionsThis scoping review identified and classified studies on mobile-based interventions for dietary behavior change as per the input methods, nature of intervention, and outcomes examined. Our findings indicated that dietary behavior changes, although playing a mediating role in improving health outcomes, have not been adequately examined in the literature. Dietary behavior change as a mechanism for the relationship between mobile-based intervention and health outcomes needs to be further investigated. Our review provides guidance for future research in this promising mobile health area.
Highlights
Technology and Healthy Eating PromotionChanges in lifestyle have resulted in dietary problems, such as consumption of high-calorie and low-nutrient foods
We further excluded 1142 papers that did not focus on mobile interventions or dietary behavior or were limited to examining the adoption, usability, and feasibility of mobile apps
Another 17 studies focused on the usability and feasibility of mobile apps, 8 did not focus on the food intake behavior, and 6 studies provided either general guidelines for app development or state-of-the-art analyses of mobile apps
Summary
Technology and Healthy Eating PromotionChanges in lifestyle have resulted in dietary problems, such as consumption of high-calorie and low-nutrient foods. The problem of widespread obesity is a serious public health concern for individuals, care providers, and policy makers [2] To mitigate these issues, technological interventions are being developed to encourage people to consume a diversified, balanced, and healthy diet depending on individual needs (eg, age, gender, and lifestyle), cultural context, locally available foods, and dietary customs. Studies were included if they provided and assessed mobile-based interventions for dietary behavior changes and/or health outcomes. Results: The search resulted in 30 studies that we classified by 3 main aspects: input methods, mobile-based interventions, and dietary behavior changes and health outcomes. Conclusions: This scoping review identified and classified studies on mobile-based interventions for dietary behavior change as per the input methods, nature of intervention, and outcomes examined. Our review provides guidance for future research in this promising mobile health area
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