Table 1.
Summary of study characteristics for included studies.
| Author (Year) | Country | Study Design: Size, Gender and Age | Participant Characteristics | Duration | Application | Intervention | Control | Outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ambrosini et al. (2018) [32] | Australia | Short report | 50 adults, 82% women mean age, 31. Majority female. Mean BMI, 22.4 |
4 days | Easy Diet Diary app | The Australian Calorie Counter—Easy Diet Diary smartphone app is a commercial calorie counter and food diary. Study participants completed a 4 d food diary using a modified version of the Easy Diet Diary app. The quality of diet was measured by both the intervention and control | Two 24 h recall | Average energy ratios were used to measure the quality of the participant’s diet from macronutrient fibre, iron, and calcium densities from the app and the 24 h recalls. The study using mean daily nutrient intakes from mobile applications and dietary recalls indicated no distinct differences between the app and the 24 h recalls for protein, saturated fat, carbohydrate and iron density. Added sugar intake was recorded higher in participants in the 24 h recalls. |
| Bentley C. L., et al. (2016) [33] | United Kingdom | Feasibility study | 27 adults, Female, mean 52.9 BMI between 25 and 40 (for inclusion in the study) |
39 weeks | AiperMotion 500 | The intervention was a small wearable M-health device used over 12 weeks by overweight people with T2DM with the intent to lose weight and reduce their HbA1c level. This study was split into three groups, each with additional resources. Group one received advice on diet and exercise; groups two and three could track dietary information whenever food or drink was consumed. | No intervention or intervention plus weekly motivational support (group three) | This paper showed that the groups using the app benefited from weight loss and their diet management and HbA1c control. This study showed that mobile app users had a more significant reduction in HbA1c. The feedback highlighted user preference for using the mobile app to improve diet. |
| Dodd et al. (2017) [28] | Australia | Randomised Controlled Trial | 162 Pregnant women. Approximately 43% of women were of normal BMI, 19% were overweight, and 38% were obese |
26 weeks | Lifestyle Advice plus Smartphone Application | The trial evaluated the impact of a smartphone application as an adjunct to face-to-face consultations in facilitating dietary and physical activity change among pregnant women. The intervention study examined both the use of a mobile application and lifestyle advice, while the control group only received lifestyle advice. | Lifestyle Advice | No difference between quality of diet between intervention and control. All participants in the trial showed increases in milk and whole grains consumption and a decrease in sodium consumption over the trial. Although all women improved their quality of diet across pregnancy, use of the smartphone application was poor at 31%. |
| Han et al. (2019) [34] | Republic of Korea | Pilot Study | 30 volunteers 93.3% were male and the median age was 39. Majority male. BMI 28.0 (27.2–30.3) (kg/m2) |
12 weeks | Health-On | A weight reduction app Health-On was prescribed to the intervention group for Weight Reduction. The Health-On app has four theme pages: main, diet, physical activity, challenge and ranking. Each page allows users to see their achievements easily and maximise user convenience and app effectiveness with a simple user interface. | Did not use mobile intervention | The primary aim of this research was to examine the impact of mobile technology on weight loss, which was achieved in the study. Participants used the Health-On program to track their diet and manage their daily calorie intake; this highlighted improved diet quality when comparing outcomes before and after the Health-On program. |
| Ipjian et al. (2016) [25] | United States | Randomised Controlled Trial | 30 adults 7 males and 23 female, mean age 34.4 majority Female. BMI 25.6 ± 4.3 kg/m2 |
4 weeks | MyFitnessPal app | Participants were instructed to reduce their sodium intake to ≤2300 mg/d by using the MyFitnessPal app to receive feedback on the sodium content of foods. | Journal tallying of foods | Participants completed a brief health history questionnaire and the Rapid Eating and Activity Assessment for Patients at the initial visit, a short, one-page, validated questionnaire to assess diet quality. At baseline, sodium intake was inversely related to diet quality. Throughout the trial, the change in diet quality scores did not differ between groups, and urinary sodium excretion decreased in the app group only compared with baseline values. |
| Kaur et al. (2020) [30] | India | Randomised controlled trial | 732 participants 76% women, mean age 53. Majority female. Baseline 27.45 Kg/m2 and change −0.25 kg/m2 |
6 months | ‘SMART Eating’ intervention | The intervention included information technology SMS, email, social networking app and ‘SMART Eating’ website, interpersonal communication, and distribution of a ‘SMART Eating’ kit—kitchen calendar, dining table mat, and measuring spoons. The intervention was executed at the household level over six months. | Pictorial pamphlet on the dietary recommendations of National Institute of Nutrition, India, with information written in Hindi language | Primary outcomes were changes in mean dietary intakes of fat, sugar, salt, and fruit and vegetables, there was a secondary improvement of changes in BMI, blood pressure, haemoglobin, FPG, and serum lipids. This study used M-health and showed improvement in diet quality concerning their intake in fruit and vegetables. |
| Kerr et al. (2016) [26] | Australia | Randomised Controlled Trial | 247 participants 162 women and 85 men. Mean age (years) 24.2 ± 3.2, 23.7 ± 3.4, 25.0 ± 3.5 in groups a, b and c respectively. Majority female. Dietary feedback only group showed the weight change from baseline = −1.75 kg and BMI change, BMI (p = 0.01) |
6 months | Mobile food record App (mFR) | (A). Dietary feedback and weekly text messages, (B) dietary feedback. Dietary intake was assessed using a mobile food record App (mFR) where participants captured images of foods and beverages consumed over 4-days at baseline and post-intervention. | Control did not receive any dietary feedback or text messages. | This study showed improvement in diet quality related to the use of mFR application. This included uptake of fruit and veg and a decrease in EDNP foods in men and SSB in women and a reduction in body weight |
| Naimark et al. (2015) [29] | Israel | Randomised Controlled Trial | 85 participants 64% women and 36% men. The mean age was 47.9 (SD 12.3) years. BMI was 26.2 (SD 3.9) |
14 weeks | Web-based app | Access to the app without any face-to-face support. | The control subjects continued their standard lifestyle | The study noted that the app users increased their diet quality score by the end of the study. Based on guidelines from a 16-item questionnaire based on Parmenter’s general nutrition knowledge questionnaire for adults, diet quality was measured using an online self-reported questionnaire. The improvement in diet quality scores was no difference between light and heavy users of the mobile application. |
| van Dijk et al. (2020) [31] | Netherlands | Randomised Controlled Trial | 218 participants Women between aged 18 and 45, median age 30.6 (5.3) 30.7 (5.7) years. BMI Not measured |
24 weeks | The Smarter Pregnancy program. | Intervention group received personal online coaching based on identified inadequate intakes of vegetables, fruits, and folic acid supplement | No coaching or application | Dietary risk score (DRS), improved in the women using the mobile application, this was due to larger intake of fruit and vegetables |
| Wharton et al. (2014) [27] | United States | Randomised Controlled Trial | 57 participants Age years 43.7 ± 3.5, 41.5 ± 4.0, 40.8 ± 3.8. (Group a, b and c respectively). Gender, 12 male, 35 female. |
8 week | Lose it | The intervention group used the mobile app Lose It (group 1) | Groups 2 and 3 used the memo feature on a smartphone, or a traditional paper-and-pencil method, respectively. | Weight loss was the measurement of this study, however, it was noted the participants using the app had an increase in the consumption of fruit and veg and the research suggests that mobile applications improve diet quality. |
Abbreviations: BMI: Body mass index, T2DM: type two diabetes mellitus, HbA1c: Glycated haemoglobin, app: application/mobile application, mg/d: milligrams per day, kg/m2: Kilogram-Meter Squared, SMS: short message service, FPG: fasting plasma glucose, mFR: mobile food record, EDNP: energy-dense nutrient-rich, SSB: sugar-sweetened beverages, SD: standard deviation, DRS: Dietary risk score.