ArticleJMIR mHealth and uHealth2021
Commercially Available Apps to Support Healthy Family Meals: User Testing of App Utility, Acceptability, and Engagement.
Article in JMIR mHealth and uHealth, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
8 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- The effectiveness of mobile app-based interventions in facilitating behaviour change towards healthier and more sustainable diets: a systematic review and meta-analysis.The international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity · 2025Pooled it
- Understanding Graduate Students' Perspectives on Food Apps to Inform User-Centered Design: Explanatory Sequential Mixed Methods Survey Study.JMIR formative research · 2026Article
- Smartphone Apps for Food Purchase Choices: Scoping Review of Designs, Opportunities, and Challenges.Journal of medical Internet research · 2024Article
- Barriers and facilitators to parents' engagement with and perceived impact of a childhood obesity app: A mixed-methods study.PLOS digital health · 2024Article
- Personalized Flexible Meal Planning for Individuals With Diet-Related Health Concerns: System Design and Feasibility Validation Study.JMIR formative research · 2023Article
- Planting Seeds for the Future: Scoping Review of Child Health Promotion Apps for Parents.JMIR mHealth and uHealth · 2023Article
- Quality, Usability, and Effectiveness of mHealth Apps and the Role of Artificial Intelligence: Current Scenario and Challenges.Journal of medical Internet research · 2023Review
- User Perceptions of eHealth and mHealth Services Promoting Physical Activity and Healthy Diets: Systematic Review.JMIR human factors · 2022Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundParents juggling caregiving and paid employment encounter a range of barriers in providing healthy food to their families. Mobile apps have the potential to help parents in planning, purchasing, and preparing healthy family food. The utility and acceptability of apps for supporting parents are unknown. User perspectives of existing technology, such as commercially available apps, can guide the development of evidence-based apps in the future.
objectiveThis study aims to determine the feasibility of existing commercially available apps for supporting the healthy food provision practices of working parents.
methodsWorking parents (N=133) were recruited via the web and completed a 10-item Capability, Opportunity, Motivation, and Behavior (COM-B) self-evaluation survey assessing their needs in relation to the provision of healthy family meals. A total of 5 apps were selected for testing, including a meal planning app, recipe app, recipe manager app, family organizer app, and barcode scanning app. Survey items were mapped to app features, with a subsample of parents (67/133, 50.4%) allocated 2 apps each to trial simultaneously over 4 weeks. A semistructured interview exploring app utility and acceptability and a web-based survey, including the System Usability Scale and the user version of the Mobile App Rating Scale, followed app testing. The interview data were analyzed using a theoretical thematic approach.
resultsSurvey participants (N=133; mean age 34 years, SD 4 years) were mainly mothers (130/133, 97.7%) and partnered (122/133, 91.7%). Participants identified a need for healthy recipes (109/133, 82% agreed or strongly agreed) and time for food provision processes (107/133, 80.5%). Engagement quality was the lowest rated domain of the user version of the Mobile App Rating Scale across all 5 apps (mean score per app ranging from 3.0 to 3.7 out of a maximum of 5). The family organizer, requiring a high level of user input, was rated the lowest for usability (median 48, IQR 34-73). In the interviews, participants weighed the benefits of the apps (ie, time saving) against the effort involved in using them in determining their acceptability. Organization was a subtheme emerging from interviews, associated with the use of meal planners and shopping lists. Meal planners and shopping lists were used in time, while behavior was occurring.
conclusionsMeal planning apps and features promoting organization present feasible, time-saving solutions to support healthy food provision practices. Attention must be paid to enhancing app automation and integration, as well as recipe and nutrition content, to ensure that apps do not add to the time burden of food provision and are supportive of healthy food provision behavior in time.
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