- Title
- Great 'app-eal' but not there yet: a review of iPhone nutrition applications relevant to child weight management
- Creator
- Burrows, Tracy L.; Khambalia, Amina Z.; Collins, Clare E.; Golley, Rebecca K.; Perry, Rebecca; Carty, Danika; Hendrie, Gilly A.; Allman-Farinelli, Margaret A.; Garnett, Sarah P.; Mcnaughton, Sarah A.; Rangan, Anna M.; Truby, Helen
- Relation
- NHMRC.1001066 & ARC.FT100100581 http://purl.org/au-research/grants/nhmrc/1001066
- Relation
- Nutrition and Dietetics Vol. 72, Issue 4, p. 363-367
- Publisher Link
- http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1747-0080.12184
- Publisher
- Wiley-Blackwell
- Resource Type
- journal article
- Date
- 2015
- Description
- Aims: There is increasing interest in the use of smartphone applications (apps) for delivering child obesity management interventions and supporting lifestyle behaviour change; however, there has been very little academic research on their development. Our aim is to review nutrition-related apps designed for children currently available in Australia for their usefulness in education or support behavioural interventions for child obesity. Methods: Apps available for download in iTunes Australia between 2 April and 3 June 2013 which were suitable for children >12 years were identified. Key words were chosen to identify apps applicable to children, focusing on nutrition. Results: A total of 27 apps were included. Most apps (24/27) were not based on evidence-informed recommendations. A third of apps were developed in the USA (n = 10; 37%) and were free (67%), nine apps required upfront payment, with a mean cost of $A2.80 (range $A0.99-$A7.49). The most common nutrition features were the promotion of energy balance (n = 12 apps) and guidance on appropriate portion size (n = 15). The most common behaviour change feature was goal setting (n = 15). The five apps that scored most highly against the characteristics reviewed were: Calorie Counter Pro by My Net Diary, Weight Watchers, Swap It Don't Stop It, Control My Weight by CalorieKing and Rate What I Ate-Photo Diet Tracker. Conclusions: Very few apps were identified that could be used in education or support behavioural interventions for child obesity. There is a need to harness this technology and evaluate the applicability and use within childhood obesity research interventions.
- Subject
- apps; child; obesity
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/1338986
- Identifier
- uon:28148
- Identifier
- ISSN:1446-6368
- Language
- eng
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