Consumer views on the potential use of mobile phones for the delivery of weight-loss interventions: Weight-loss interventions via mobile phone
Open accessAbstract
BACKGROUND: The surge in the incidence of obesity and being overweight demands new options to extend the reach of weight-loss interventions. Mobile phones provide a medium for reaching large numbers of people in a cost-effective manner. The present study aimed to explore the potential for weight-loss interventions to be delivered via mobile phone. METHODS: A mixed methods approach was employed. A telephone survey was conducted with 306 randomly selected participants, and 10 focus groups were undertaken with 54 purposively selected participants. The telephone survey comprised questions exploring the nature and acceptability of any potential weight-loss programme that might be delivered via mobile phones. The focus groups were conducted to explore issues of acceptability in more depth than was possible in the survey. RESULTS: Two-thirds of participants reported support for a mobile phone weight-loss intervention, with greater levels of support amongst younger age groups and rural Māori (the indigenous population in New Zealand). Participants liked the idea of ready access to weight-loss information, and associated feedback and encouragement. The results suggest that interventions would need to include aspects of social support, use tailored and personalised content, and be practical and relevant so that they appeal to consumers. Appropriate methods of providing social support using a mobile phone require further exploration. CONCLUSIONS: Mobile phones may provide a novel but acceptable way to deliver a weight-loss intervention. They have the potential to be automatically personalised and tailored to the needs of the individual, at the same time as being delivered at a population level.
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Available health information within an app is perceived by users as beneficial and positively influences their engagement.
“Under capability, the main factors identified were app literacy skills (B), app awareness (U), available user guidance (B), health information (E), statistical information on progress (E), well-designed reminders (E), features to reduce cognitive load (E), and self-monitoring features (E).”
From Influences on the Uptake of and Engagement With Health and Well-Being Smartphone Apps: Systematic Review (2020) · cites this paper as [47]
The Results (page not specified in our copy) say participants liked having weight-loss information available ‘at your fingertips’ and valued relevant, practical content. The study asked about a proposed mobile-phone intervention, not use of an app, and did not show that information increased engagement. (LLM, conf=0.84)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredLow cost of an app is an influential factor for uptake.
“The low cost of an app was found to be an influential factor for uptake [37,40,47,48,56,68,72,74] so that low-income individuals would be able to afford them (Q27) [47].”
From Influences on the Uptake of and Engagement With Health and Well-Being Smartphone Apps: Systematic Review (2020) · cites this paper as [47]
The Results report that focus-group participants said a mobile-phone weight-loss programme would need to be free or low cost so people on low incomes could participate. This supports affordability as a consideration for participation, but the study did not specifically examine app uptake or demonstrate that price influenced actual uptake. (LLM, conf=0.84)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredA personalized app was highly valued for engagement.
“A personalized app was highly valued for engagement [37,38,40,47,50,52,56,57,60-62,69-72,75].”
From Influences on the Uptake of and Engagement With Health and Well-Being Smartphone Apps: Systematic Review (2020) · cites this paper as [47]
The Results report that a majority of focus group participants wanted personalised and tailored mobile-phone weight-loss interventions. The paper discusses acceptability of a proposed intervention, not a specific app or measured engagement with one. (LLM, conf=0.85)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredCommunity networking was considered an important social support by reinforcing behavior change.
“It was considered an important social support by reinforcing behavior change [47,56,59,62,69,72,73] and by sharing knowledge and experiences [37,69,73,75].”
From Influences on the Uptake of and Engagement With Health and Well-Being Smartphone Apps: Systematic Review (2020) · cites this paper as [47]
The Results (page unavailable) say participants considered a communal aspect or social support foremost for a successful mobile-phone weight-loss intervention and suggested a group network. The Discussion (page unavailable) calls social support central to weight loss and maintenance, but does not say that community networking reinforces behavior change; it says how mobile-phone support would work remains unclear. (LLM, conf=0.84)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredIn 2 studies, participants were concerned about having a machine telling them what to do.
“In contrast, in 2 studies, the participants were concerned about having a machine telling them what to do (Q53) [47,56].”
From Influences on the Uptake of and Engagement With Health and Well-Being Smartphone Apps: Systematic Review (2020) · cites this paper as [47]
The Results (page unavailable) report that a few focus-group participants were concerned that a machine would be too impersonal. The paper does not say they objected to a machine telling them what to do. This source is one study; the second cited study cannot be assessed here. (LLM, conf=0.84)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
Users reported better engagement when positive feedback was received.
“Users reported better engagement when positive feedback was received (Q54) [37,39,45-48,51,52,54,56, 58,62,67,72].”
From Influences on the Uptake of and Engagement With Health and Well-Being Smartphone Apps: Systematic Review (2020) · cites this paper as [47]
The Results report that focus group participants liked the idea of regular feedback and encouragement in a proposed mobile-phone weight-loss intervention. They do not report that users received positive feedback or became more engaged as a result; the study examined views about a potential intervention. (LLM, conf=0.86)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredThe possibility of community networking within apps with other users or other people with similar needs has been identified in multiple studies.
“The possibility of community networking within apps with other users or other people with similar needs has been identified in multiple studies [37,39,40,47,56,59,62,66,67,69-73,75].”
From Influences on the Uptake of and Engagement With Health and Well-Being Smartphone Apps: Systematic Review (2020) · cites this paper as [47]
It was suggested that if the app is too impersonal, it would not offer the social support the users need.
“It was also suggested that if the app is too impersonal, it would not offer the social support the users’ need [47].”
From Influences on the Uptake of and Engagement With Health and Well-Being Smartphone Apps: Systematic Review (2020) · cites this paper as [47]
Several studies described that some participants felt that apps can impersonate a little person, which increased the intention to use the app.
“Several studies described that some participants felt that apps can impersonate a little person [39,45,47,48,50,56], which increased the intention to use the app (Q51-52) [45,48,50].”
From Influences on the Uptake of and Engagement With Health and Well-Being Smartphone Apps: Systematic Review (2020) · cites this paper as [47]
The Results (page not provided) report that participants wanted social support, personalisation, feedback and encouragement from a mobile-phone weight-loss intervention. Neither the Results nor the Discussion says participants felt an app could impersonate a little person or that this perception increased their intention to use it; searches for personification and a person-like phone found no such passage. (LLM, conf=0.76)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
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Cites
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Flagged first, then by citations
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Cited by
Sorted by citations
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“The focus of some studies was very specific and targeted a certain health behavior or condition, including alcohol reduction [38,46,54,58,59,64], smoking cessation [40,58,67,72,77], increasing physical activity [39,45,48,49,53,62,65,68], weight management [47,48,51,53,63,65,66,71,78], depression [52,61], mindfulness […”
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Self-citation
- Authors
- Gorton, D., Dixon, R., Maddison, R., Mhurchu, C. N., & Jull, A.
- Affiliations
- University of Auckland (NZ)
- Corresponding author
- Jull, A.
- ORCID
- Venue
- Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2011-07-23
- Volume
- 24
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- 616-619
- ISSN
- 0952-3871 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W1943998642
- Cited by
- 23
- References
- 11
- Citations by year
- 2025: 1 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 1 · 2020: 2 · 2019: 1 · 2018: 2 · 2017: 6 · 2016: 4 · 2014: 3 · 2013: 1 · 2012: 1
- FWCI
- 2.97
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Figshare (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- ResearchSpace (University of Auckland) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- University of Auckland
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Mobile Health and mHealth Applications
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Information Systems › Mobile Learning in Education
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › Pharmacy › Obesity and Health Practices
- Keywords
- mobile devices, weight loss interventions, obesity, consumer acceptance, social support, Māori, rural population
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adult, Aged, Cost-Benefit Analysis, Female, Humans, Interviews as Topic, Male, Middle Aged, New Zealand, Nutrition Surveys, Surveys and Questionnaires, Rural Population, Social Support, Weight Loss, Focus Groups, Cell Phone, Young Adult, Weight Reduction Programs
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