Characteristics of Smartphone Applications for Nutrition Improvement in Community Settings: A Scoping Review

Reproduced by permission of Oxford University Press https://academic.oup.com Copyright © 2019 American Society for NutritionSmartphone applications are increasingly being used to support nutrition improvement in community settings. However, there is a scarcity of practical literature to support researchers and practitioners in choosing or developing health applications. This work maps the features, key content, theoretical approaches, and methods of consumer testing of applications intended for nutrition improvement in community settings. A systematic, scoping review methodology was used to map published, peer-reviewed literature reporting on applications with a specific nutrition-improvement focus intended for use in the community setting. After screening, articles were grouped into 4 categories: dietary self-monitoring trials, nutrition improvement trials, application description articles, and qualitative application development studies. For mapping, studies were also grouped into categories based on the target population and aim of the application or program. Of the 4818 titles identified from the database search, 64 articles were included. The broad categories of features found to be included in applications generally corresponded to different behavior change support strategies common to many classic behavioral change models. Key content of applications generally focused on food composition, with tailored feedback most commonly used to deliver educational content. Consumer testing before application deployment was reported in just over half of the studies. Collaboration between practitioners and application developers promotes an appropriate balance of evidence-based content and functionality. This work provides a unique resource for program development teams and practitioners seeking to use an application for nutrition improvement in community settings

Managing obesity through mobile phone applications: a state-of-the-art review from a user-centred design perspective

Evidence has shown that the trend of increasing obesity rates has continued in the last decade. Mobile phone applications, benefiting from their ubiquity, have been increasingly used to address this issue. In order to increase the applications’ acceptance and success, a design and development process that focuses on users, such as User-Centred Design, is necessary. This paper reviews reported studies that concern the design and development of mobile phone applications to prevent obesity, and analyses them from a User-Centred Design perspective. Based on the review results, strengths and weaknesses of the existing studies were identified. Identified strengths included: evidence of the inclusion of multidisciplinary skills and perspectives; user involvement in studies; and the adoption of iterative design practices. Weaknesses included the lack of specificity in the selection of end-users and inconsistent evaluation protocols. The review was concluded by outlining issues and research areas that need to be addressed in the future, including: greater understanding of the effectiveness of sharing data between peers; privacy; and guidelines for designing for behavioural change through mobile phone applications

Policy Recommendations to Address Disproportionate Health Outcomes Caused by Healthy Food Access in Relation to Housing Districts Segregated by Class and Race

Negative health outcomes among low-income racial and ethnic minorities are related to geographic location, socioeconomic status (SES), and a lack of resources. Areas mostly composed of racial and ethnic minorities are disproportionately affected by a lack of food access in surrounding areas. Districts that house low-income populations are commonly surrounded by convenient and snack stores, which facilitates access to unhealthy food, and subsequently to the prevalence of obesity and cardiovascular disease. Understanding the significance of this relationship is essential for efforts in prevention, as well as the alleviation of health disparities. The report displays the relevant resources and data involved in creating prevention programs and detail several policy interventions that employ evidence-based methods for improving the health outcomes of low-income and/or racial and ethnic minorities living in food deserts

Working Together in a PhamilySpace: Facilitating Collaboration on Healthy Behaviors Over Distance

Studies have shown that interpersonal relationships such as families and friends are an important source of support and encouragement to those who seek to engage in healthier habits. However, challenges related to geographic distance may hinder those relationships from fully collaborating and engaging in healthy living together. To explore this domain, we developed and deployed a lightweight photo-based application called PhamilySpace with a week-long intervention. Our goal is to examine family members\u27 and friends\u27 engagement and awareness on healthy behaviors while living apart. Our analysis of the semi-structured interviews, pre/post-intervention instruments, and application logs suggests three main benefits of interventions for health promotion in this context: (1) increased awareness on acts of health; (2) reciprocal sharing of health information supports social accountability over distance; and (3) positive dialogue around health enhances support on healthy living. By providing insights into distributed family/friends interactions and experiences with the application, we identify benefits, challenges, and opportunities for future design interventions that promote healthy behaviors

Mobile Health Technology Development: Adaptations for Children and Adolescents with Autism

Mobile health technology is a growing health resource that is usually designed for the general population. The existing literature on children and adolescents with autism suggests that their experience with mobile health technology may differ from the general population due to the coexisting conditions and social determinants of health related to autism. These differences can impact the anticipated effectiveness of mobile health technology. The goal of this qualitative study was to learn more about the experience of children and adolescents with autism with mobile health technology by interviewing health care providers, individuals who have autism, and parents of children with autism. The existing literature along with the personal experiences and recommendations discussed during these interviews provide a variety of considerations for mobile health technology developers. By incorporating these findings into new and existing mobile health technology, these resources can be more accessible and beneficial for children and adolescents with autism

Generating Personalized Pregnancy Nutrition Recommendations with GPT-Powered AI Chatbot. In: 20th International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management

Low socioeconomic status (SES) and inadequate nutrition during pregnancy are linked to health disparities and adverse outcomes, including an increased risk of preterm birth, low birth weight, and intrauterine growth restriction. AI-powered computational agents have enormous potential to address this challenge by providing nutrition guidelines or advice to patients with different health literacy and demographics. This paper presents our preliminary exploration of creating a GPT-powered AI chatbot called NutritionBot and investigates the implications for pregnancy nutrition recommendations. We used a user-centered design approach to define the target user persona and collaborated with medical professionals to co-design the chatbot. We integrated our proposed chatbot with ChatGPT to generate pregnancy nutrition recommendations tailored to patients’ lifestyles. Our contributions include introducing a design persona of a pregnant woman from an underserved population, co-designing a nutrition advice chatbot with healthcare experts, and sharing design implications for future GPT-based nutrition chatbots based on our preliminary findings