2026-04-01
Kaylee Dugas, Marie-Andrée Giroux, Abdelatif Guerroudj, Jazna Leger, Asal Rouhafzay, Ghazal Rouhafzay, Jalila Jbilou
Background: Overweight and obesity, as defined by the World Health Organization, correspond to BMI values of 25-29.9 kg/m² for overweight and ≥30 kg/m² for obesity. Both conditions remain major public health challenges worldwide due to their strong link with type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and hypertension, which place a heavy clinical and economic burden on health care systems. In Canada, obesity rates are notably high, with vulnerable populations disproportionately affected due to socioeconomic barriers, limited access to preventive care, and higher comorbidity rates. Calorie-counting Mobile health (mHealth) apps support dietary self-monitoring and weight control; however, varied designs and evidence complicate assessment of feasibility and effectiveness. Objective: This study aimed to systematically evaluate the structure and content of 46 calorie-counting apps, identify factors related to their acceptability and feasibility among adults living with obesity or weight-related chronic diseases, and formulate evidence-based recommendations for app developers, clinicians, and researchers. Methods: We conducted a scoping review of papers on calorie-counting apps published between January 2013 and March 2024. We identified 771 records and applied the PRISMA-ScR (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews) eligibility criteria. Data on app functions, features, user engagement, and acceptability and feasibility among adults with overweight or related chronic conditions were synthesized to generate practical recommendations for designing and clinically implementing calorie-counting apps. Results: A total of 68 studies met the inclusion criteria. Randomized controlled trials (23/68, 34%) and cohort studies (16/68, 24%) were the most common designs. Most studies targeted adults with overweight or obesity (53/68, 78%), while diabetes and hypertension were less frequently represented. In total, 46 distinct calorie-counting apps were identified, with MyFitnessPal and Lose It! being the most frequently studied. Nearly all apps (45/46, 98%) offered calorie logging, often through manual entry supported by food databases, and about half included goal-setting features. The most cited acceptability factors were personalization, automation, user-friendly design, and data sharing with health care professionals; barriers included technical issues, limited food databases, and manual entry. Adherence declined over time. For example, self-monitoring with MyFitnessPal decreased from 5.4 to 1.4 days per week from weeks 4 to 12, while use of Lose It! dropped to 4 days per week by the end of 12 weeks. Twelve recommendations were developed to enhance the feasibility and acceptability of calorie-counting apps for people living with weight-related chronic diseases. Conclusions: Calorie-counting apps hold potential as tools for supporting individuals living with obesity and weight-related chronic diseases. To improve clinical usability, app developers should enhance engagement via personalization and automation, ensuring food database comprehensiveness, and minimizing tracking effort. Further research should validate effectiveness and strategies for sustaining adherence, thereby informing development of user-friendly mHealth interventions.
2026-03-31
Sheila Addanki, Luciana Macedo, Joy MacDermid, Sandra Moll
Background: Technology-based solutions to support the mental health needs of workers are on the rise, as evidenced by the growing body of research related to e–mental health apps implemented with workers or within the context of workplaces. This expanding landscape of evidence related to mental health apps underscores the necessity of summarizing and consolidating the different ways in which studies are evaluating real-world technology-based interventions in a complex setting such as a workplace. Objective: The aim of this scoping review is to summarize the growing body of evidence evaluating mental health apps with workers. Specific research questions include “What types of mental health apps are studied?” “With whom are they being evaluated?” and “What outcomes are being tracked with what tools?” Methods: The scoping review followed 5 stages: specifying the research question, identifying relevant literature, selecting studies, extracting data, and synthesizing the findings. The search strategy was applied across 6 databases (PsycINFO, Embase, MEDLINE, Cochrane Database, OVID Healthstar, and OVID Emcare) to identify relevant studies from January 2000 to August 2023. Results: From the 288 abstracts screened, 54 studies met the inclusion criteria for this review. Over two-thirds of the studies were randomized controlled trials. The studies included 44 different apps, comprising 23 structured self-guided apps, 15 unstructured self-guided apps, and 6 apps designed as adjuncts to other interventions. Evaluation approaches included examining user engagement and utilization, investigating the impact on users, and evaluating the implementation process. Most studies evaluated the impact on individual mental health–related outcomes as well as workplace-related outcomes. Conclusions: This scoping review provides a comprehensive overview of the ways in which studies are currently evaluating workplace mental health apps. The review highlights key trends and gaps in the existing research, noting that most studies focus on the effects of mental health apps on individual users, while only a limited number of studies explore how implementing such dynamic interventions within complex real-world settings (eg, workplaces) may influence their overall effectiveness. Future research should explore the implementation process to identify factors that promote and/or hinder the optimal use and impact of mental health apps for workers. Trial Registration: OSF Registries osf.io/hxndj; https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/HXNDJ
2026-03-30
Seema Mehrotra, Ravikesh Tripathi, Pramita Sengupta, Abhishek Karishiddimath, Angelina Francis, Pratiksha Sharma, Paulomi Sudhir, T K Srikanth, Girish Rao, Rajesh Sagar
2026-03-25
Cheng-Hao Wu, Che-Ning Chang, Chu-Fang Chang, Ming-Hwai Lin, Hsing-Yu Chen, Yu-Chun Chen
Background: Exercise prescription is a structured and individualized intervention that requires appropriate progression, tailoring, and behavioral support to ensure safety and long-term effectiveness. With the expansion of mobile health technologies, exercise prescription apps are increasingly used to support the remote delivery of prescribed exercise programs. However, the extent to which widely adopted apps align with established clinical standards remains unclear. Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the clinical usability of popular, no-cost exercise prescription apps from a professional perspective, focusing on clinical integrity, intervention fidelity, behavioral mechanisms, and clinician-assessed digital usability. Methods: A systematic search of Google Play and the Apple App Store identified widely adopted apps that enable clinician-directed exercise prescription. Eligible apps were evaluated using established frameworks, including the frequency, intensity, time, and type (FITT) and FITT, volume, and progression (FITT-VP) principles; the Consensus on Exercise Reporting Template (CERT); the Behavior Change Technique Taxonomy version 1 (BCTTv1); and the Mobile App Rating Scale (MARS). Descriptive analyses and interrater reliability assessments were performed. Results: Six apps met the inclusion criteria. All satisfied the basic FITT requirements; however, none incorporated explicit guidance on exercise progression or individualized adjustment consistent with the FITT-VP principles. CERT evaluation demonstrated comprehensive reporting of structural components but a consistent absence of progression logic, tailoring strategies, and adverse event documentation. Although multiple behavior change techniques were identified, several techniques considered important for graded progression and sustained adherence in unsupervised settings were infrequently implemented or absent. Overall app quality was moderate, characterized by strong functionality but limited engagement. Only 2 apps reported evidence of scientific evaluation. Conclusions: Widely adopted exercise prescription apps meet fundamental structural requirements but do not fully support the progressive and individualized processes central to clinical exercise prescription. These findings highlight a gap between structural prescription delivery and independent clinical exercise management. Exercise prescription apps may therefore be most appropriately positioned as adjunctive tools within clinician-guided or hybrid care models. Future development should prioritize transparent progression mechanisms, individualized adjustment, and the implementation of clinically relevant behavior change strategies to enhance safety and long-term effectiveness.
2026-03-25
Sofia Spolander, Petter Fagerberg, Billy Langlet, Ioannis Sarafis, Ioannis Ioakimidis
Background: Childhood obesity and unhealthy dietary habits remain major public health concerns and are influenced by the surrounding food environment. Food marketing, particularly for ultraprocessed foods (UPFs), shapes children’s food preferences and consumption. However, food environments are complex and constantly changing, making them difficult to map and monitor. Developing approaches that capture these dynamics is essential to understand and address children’s exposure to unhealthy food marketing. Objective: This study aimed to pilot-test a novel tool consisting of a smartphone app and dashboard designed to identify areas where children are exposed to outdoor food advertising. Additionally, the study assessed the prevalence of advertisements for UPFs, health-promoting foods, and offers in the identified areas and explored differences in exposure by city size and socioeconomic status (SES). Methods: A cross-sectional study was performed in 2 Swedish counties. Initially, 46 children from 4 schools in areas with varying SES used a smartphone app to take pictures of food advertisements that they encountered in their everyday lives. The app also recorded the GPS locations of where the pictures were taken. Pictures with associated GPS data were automatically uploaded and visualized in a web-based dashboard, allowing for identification of areas where children see many food advertisements, so-called “hotspot areas.” The identified hotspot areas were subsequently visited by 2 researchers (SS and PF), who systematically photographed all food advertisements in the areas. All pictures taken by the researchers were later analyzed based on their content of UPFs, health-promoting foods such as fruits, berries, vegetables, and seafood (FBVS), and price promotions. Results: Based on 1308 pictures of outdoor food advertisements taken by children using the app, 34 hotspot areas were identified through the dashboard. In these areas, researchers collected 2955 pictures of outdoor food advertisements during the mapping activity. Overall, 77.5% (2291/2955) of advertisements promoted UPFs, with no significant difference between the large and small cities. In Stockholm, a higher proportion of UPFs appeared in the high-SES area compared to the low-SES area, though the proportion was high in both areas. FBVS featured in 20.8% (616/2955) of advertisements, slightly more often in Stockholm and in the high-SES area. Price promotions appeared in 23.6% (697/2955) of advertisements, mainly featured UPFs (518/697, 74.3%) and less often FBVS (142/697, 20.4%). Price promotions for UPFs were somewhat more frequent in Stockholm, and FBVS promotions were more common in the high-SES area. Conclusions: Using a novel, child-centered, mobile health tool combining a smartphone app and dashboard, this study identified local food advertising hotspots. Most advertisements in the hotspots promoted UPFs, while a few featured FBVS, a pattern also reflected in price promotions. These trends were consistent across areas, highlighting a food marketing landscape misaligned with dietary guidelines and the need for policy action.