Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41652603›Full record

ArticlePilot and feasibility studies2026

SmartAPPetite For Youth: pilot and feasibility study of an adolescent smartphone nutrition intervention.

J Gilliland, D Bowman, S Cappuccitti, O Caruso, A Clark, S Doherty, J Haines, L W McEachern, L Minaker, C O'Connor and 8 more

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Article in Pilot and feasibility studies, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

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.

2 · The registry

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.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Review
  2. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

18 authors.

J GillilandHuman Environments Analysis Laboratory, Western University, London, ON, Canada. jgillila@uwo.ca.
D BowmanHuman Environments Analysis Laboratory, Western University, London, ON, Canada.
S CappuccittiHuman Environments Analysis Laboratory, Western University, London, ON, Canada.
O CarusoHuman Environments Analysis Laboratory, Western University, London, ON, Canada.
A ClarkHuman Environments Analysis Laboratory, Western University, London, ON, Canada.
S DohertyWilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, ON, Canada.
J HainesUniversity of Guelph, Guelph, ON, Canada.
L W McEachernHuman Environments Analysis Laboratory, Western University, London, ON, Canada.
L MinakerUniversity of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada.
C O'ConnorHuman Environments Analysis Laboratory, Western University, London, ON, Canada.
R C SadlerHuman Environments Analysis Laboratory, Western University, London, ON, Canada.
H SchaafsmaHuman Environments Analysis Laboratory, Western University, London, ON, Canada.
J SeabrookHuman Environments Analysis Laboratory, Western University, London, ON, Canada.
S StrangesDepartment of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Western University, London, ON, Canada.
D TobinHuman Environments Analysis Laboratory, Western University, London, ON, Canada.
N WoodsHuman Environments Analysis Laboratory, Western University, London, ON, Canada.
A J WrayHuman Environments Analysis Laboratory, Western University, London, ON, Canada.
S ZhongHuman Environments Analysis Laboratory, Western University, London, ON, Canada.

Funding

Children's Health Foundation 2015-17CIHR 399384Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada G-17-0018327
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundCanadian adolescents report poor dietary quality. Smartphone-based nutrition interventions have the potential to improve adolescent diets through food knowledge and purchasing. "SmartAPPetite for Youth" is a smartphone-based nutrition intervention for adolescents that addresses key gaps in the literature. The study objective is to evaluate the intervention for feasibility, acceptability, and usability before undertaking a full-scale randomized controlled study.

methodsThe study was conducted in March-June 2016, among adolescents aged 14 years attending a secondary school in London, Ontario. Participants received the SmartAPPetite application on their phones, which sent time-based healthy eating messages (max 3/day) and location-based "nudge" messages (max 5/day) for 8 weeks. To evaluate recruitment methods, performance of app features, suitability of study instruments, and overall feasibility (measured by the rate of study retention, with a target of 70%), data was collected via the following: (1) a pre-post youth survey; (2) assessing participant experience; and (3) researcher observations. The youth survey included demographic questions, and questions about nutrition perceptions, food intake behaviors, food knowledge, and food purchasing behaviors. Questions about participant experiences included how often they interacted with the app, what they liked, and what they thought should be improved.

resultsOf 108 eligible adolescents, 59 consented to participate and 54 completed the follow-up survey. Most participants reported that the app benefitted them and stated that they would recommend the app to a friend. Results from the youth survey show that SmartAPPetite has the potential to influence food knowledge, food purchasing, and food intake behaviors. The implementation review identified some changes to our intervention study design, tools, and the app that are required for it to have the greatest impact in a scaled-up scientifically rigorous randomized controlled study.

conclusionsThe results of this pilot study show that the project is feasible, and that adolescents will accept the intervention and enjoy engaging with the app. The app was well accepted, and participants perceived that it was helpful in improving their food knowledge and health behaviors. The primary objective of this study identified some key lessons that can be built upon for a larger study. The impact of the app needs to be properly tested in a full-scale trial.

Indexed as

AdolescentDiet qualityFood environmentsFood knowledgeNutrition interventionSmartphone app

Identifiers

PMID41652603
PMCPMC12983698

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.