Accepted for/Published in: JMIR mHealth and uHealth
Date Submitted: May 3, 2023
Date Accepted: Dec 7, 2023
Weight Loss through mHealth App among Obese Individuals in Different Economic Regions of China: a Cohort Study during 2020-23
ABSTRACT
Background:
With the increasing prevalence of obesity, weight loss has become a critical issue in China. Self-managed weight loss through mobile health (mHealth) app may be a prospective method. However, its practicability in different economic regions of China is unknown.
Objective:
To evaluate the effectiveness of self-managed weight loss through mHealth app among obese individuals in different economic regions of China and to demonstrate the feasibility of online self-management for weight loss.
Methods:
165,635 Chinese adults signed up for the mHealth app were included to describe and analyze the body composition characteristics of individuals from different economic regions by Chi-Square analyses. Furthermore, two types of obese participants through mHealth monitoring were followed for 6 months to explore the weight loss effect and independent predictors associated with weight loss success by Unpaired Student’s t-test and multivariable logistic regression analyses.
Results:
There were 32,129 users from economy-developing regions and 133,506 users from developed regions. The proportion of the obese users in developing regions was higher compared with developed regions, both based on body mass index and body fat percentage classification. Follow-up analysis showed the weight loss effect among overweight and obese participants in developing regions was greater compared with developed regions. However, the weight and fat loss effects among normal-weight obese participants were stronger in developed regions.
Conclusions:
This study found a high proportion of obese users in developing regions. Overweight and obese individuals through mHealth in different economic regions of China experienced significant weight loss and fat loss. Moreover, individuals in developed regions paid more attention to body fat. Therefore, promoting self-monitoring of weight and body fat percentage through mHealth app was a crucial intervention measure that could be implemented across all regions of China.
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