Lee Jennifer J, Ahmed Mavra, Mouhaffel Rim, L'Abbé Mary R
Department of Nutritional Sciences, Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Joannah & Brian Lawson Centre for Child Nutrition, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
PLOS Digit Health. 2023 Oct 25;2(10):e0000360. doi: 10.1371/journal.pdig.0000360. eCollection 2023 Oct.
There has been an increased emphasis on plant-based foods and diets. Although mobile technology has the potential to be a convenient and innovative tool to help consumers adhere to dietary guidelines, little is known about the content and quality of free, popular mobile health (mHealth) plant-based diet apps. The objective of the study was to assess the content and quality of free, popular mHealth apps supporting plant-based diets for Canadians. Free mHealth apps with high user ratings, a high number of user ratings, available on both Apple App and GooglePlay stores, and primarily marketed to help users follow plant-based diet were included. Using pre-defined search terms, Apple App and GooglePlay App stores were searched on December 22, 2020; the top 100 returns for each search term were screened for eligibility. Included apps were downloaded and assessed for quality by three dietitians/nutrition research assistants using the Mobile App Rating Scale (MARS) and the App Quality Evaluation (AQEL) scale. Of the 998 apps screened, 16 apps (mean user ratings±SEM: 4.6±0.1) met the eligibility criteria, comprising 10 recipe managers and meal planners, 2 food scanners, 2 community builders, 1 restaurant identifier, and 1 sustainability assessor. All included apps targeted the general population and focused on changing behaviors using education (15 apps), skills training (9 apps), and/or goal setting (4 apps). Although MARS (scale: 1-5) revealed overall adequate app quality scores (3.8±0.1), domain-specific assessments revealed high functionality (4.0±0.1) and aesthetic (4.0±0.2), but low credibility scores (2.4±0.1). The AQEL (scale: 0-10) revealed overall low score in support of knowledge acquisition (4.5±0.4) and adequate scores in other nutrition-focused domains (6.1-7.6). Despite a variety of free plant-based apps available with different focuses to help Canadians follow plant-based diets, our findings suggest a need for increased credibility and additional resources to complement the low support of knowledge acquisition among currently available plant-based apps. This research received no specific grant from any funding agency.
人们越来越重视植物性食品和饮食。尽管移动技术有潜力成为一种方便且创新的工具，帮助消费者遵守饮食指南，但对于免费的、受欢迎的移动健康（mHealth）植物性饮食应用程序的内容和质量却知之甚少。本研究的目的是评估支持加拿大人采用植物性饮食的免费、受欢迎的mHealth应用程序的内容和质量。纳入的是在苹果应用商店和谷歌应用商店均有提供、用户评分高、用户评分数量多且主要用于帮助用户遵循植物性饮食的免费mHealth应用程序。使用预先定义的搜索词，于2020年12月22日在苹果应用商店和谷歌应用商店进行搜索；对每个搜索词的前100个搜索结果进行资格筛选。纳入的应用程序被下载，并由三名营养师/营养研究助理使用移动应用评分量表（MARS）和应用质量评估（AQEL）量表对质量进行评估。在筛选的998个应用程序中，有16个应用程序（平均用户评分±标准误：4.6±0.1）符合资格标准，包括10个食谱管理器和膳食计划器、2个食物扫描仪、2个社区建设应用程序、1个餐厅识别应用程序和1个可持续性评估应用程序。所有纳入的应用程序都针对普通人群，并侧重于通过教育（15个应用程序）、技能培训（9个应用程序）和/或目标设定（4个应用程序）来改变行为。尽管MARS量表（范围：1 - 5）显示应用程序的总体质量得分足够（3.8±0.1），但特定领域评估显示功能得分高（4.0±0.1）和美学得分高（4.0±0.2），但可信度得分低（2.4±0.1）。AQEL量表（范围：0 - 10）显示在支持知识获取方面总体得分低（4.5±0.4），而在其他以营养为重点的领域得分足够（6.1 - 7.6）。尽管有各种不同侧重点的免费植物性应用程序可帮助加拿大人遵循植物性饮食，但我们的研究结果表明，需要提高可信度并增加额外资源，以补充当前可用植物性应用程序在知识获取支持方面的不足。本研究未获得任何资助机构的特定资助。
