Mobile App Might Be Effective Tool for Losing Weight, Study Finds

A mobile health application might be more effective than traditional  interventions to help patients lose weight, according to a study published in the Journal of Medical  Internet Research, Time‘s “Healthland” reports.

Study Details

For the study, researchers from the University of Leeds in in the United  Kingdom divided 128 overweight volunteers into three groups, with each group  using a different weight loss tool.

The three tools — which participants used over a six-month period —  were:

• An online food diary;
• A paper food diary; and
• My Meal Mate, a mobile health app.

At the end of the six-month period, researchers evaluated the participants’  adherence to their weight loss tool and measured changes in their weight  (Sifferlin, “Healthland,” Time, 4/15).

How the App Works

The My Meal Mate app allows users to set a weight loss goal and record  various health metrics. For example, users can record their:

• Calorie counts by using a database to select the food and drink they  consumed; and
• Physical activity and receive instant feedback on their energy  expenditure.

The app provides graphs to track users’ progress and also offers additional  support through weekly text messages tailored to the user (Slabodkin, FierceMobileHealthcare, 4/15).

Study Findings

Researchers found that study participants who used paper or online food diaries made entries about one per week. However, those using the My Meal Mate app used the tool every other day.

By the end of the six-month study period, the average amount of weight lost  was:

• 10 pounds for users of the My Meal Mate app;
• 6.5 pounds for users of the paper food diary; and
• 3 pounds for users of the online food diary (“Healthland,” Time,  4/15).

Janet Cade — a professor at the University of Leeds’ School of Food Science  and Nutrition — said, “Smartphone technology could be harnessed to promote  health; generally people don’t know how many calories they are eating daily.”  Cade added that the mobile app “really helped people monitor their food intake  and resulted in an important amount of weight loss” (University of Leeds release, 4/15).

Source: iHealthBeat

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