JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Smartphones play a central role in adolescents’ daily lives, making dietary mobile health (mHealth) apps—tools that provide nutrition education and tracking eating behaviors—a promising avenue for influencing dietary habits. While numerous studies have examined the impact of mHealth apps on diet, few have investigated adolescents’ perspectives and experiences with these tools.

Objective:

This scoping review aimed to synthesize the evidence and map the research gaps on adolescents’ perspectives (positive or negative) and experiences (attitudes, barriers, and facilitators) of using dietary mHealth apps on their smartphones.

Methods:

A systematic scoping review was conducted according to the 5-stage framework by Arksey and O’Malley. Articles that included mixed-methods studies that focused on adolescents (10-19 years of age) reporting perspectives (positive or negative) and experiences (attitudes, barriers, and facilitators) related to dietary apps use were searched across: PsycINFO, Embase, Medline, Web of Science and CINAHL for studies that were published from 2012 until 2023. Articles that were not specific to diet, not research studies, and not written in English were omitted.

Results:

Of the 590 abstracts screened, 17 studies met the eligibility criteria. Ten studies assessed the usability, feasibility and acceptability of standalone or multi-component dietary mHealth apps, while nine examined app likability and effectiveness. Thematic analysis revealed seven overarching themes: (1) Technical Functionality and Usability; (2) Appreciation of Nutritional Education and Content Depth; 3) Importance of Social Connection, Feedback and Support; (4) Values of Entertainment and Gamification; (5) Significance of Personal Goals, Motivation and Tracking; (6) Interest for Simple Design and Interface; and (7) Perceived Effectiveness of Dietary mHealth Apps. Positively perceived features included food identification, tracking and gamification elements. Commonly barriers included technical difficulties, tracking inaccuracies, complex information delivery and limited social engagement. Facilitators to app use were ease of navigation, targeted information, social interaction, rewards and goal setting. Suggested improvements focused on tracking accuracy, interface design, feedback mechanisms and notification options. Overall, adolescents perceived effective apps to as those that raised awareness of eating habits and support improvements in dietary intake.

Conclusions:

This scoping review highlights that adolescents’ experiences with dietary mHealth apps are shaped by technical functionality, usability, social engagement, personalization, and gamification. While these features can enhance engagement, barriers such as tracking inaccuracies, technical issues, and limited social interaction reduce app effectiveness. Understanding these perspectives is critical for designing apps that are not only informative but also appealing and sustainable for adolescent users.