Olsen Christine, Lungu Daniel Adrian
Department of Quality and Health Technology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Stavanger, Stavanger, Norway.
JMIR Form Res. 2024 Apr 30;8:e48185. doi: 10.2196/48185.
Obesity is a prevalent and serious chronic condition associated with abnormal or excessive fat buildup that poses significant health risks. The rates of overweight and obesity in adults and children continue to rise, with global rates of children with overweight or obesity aged 5-19 years growing from 4% to 18% between 1975 and 2016. Furthermore, in 2017, nearly 4 million people died due to complications arising from being overweight or obese.
This study aims to investigate the potential impact of the mobile app Heia Meg on promoting healthier lifestyle choices regarding nutrition and physical activity.
A prospective longitudinal study was conducted in collaboration with the Norwegian Directorate of Health. Participants were recruited through the Heia Meg app and were asked to complete a questionnaire before and after using the app. A total of 199 responses were included in the first (preintervention) questionnaire, while 99 valid responses were obtained in the second (postintervention) questionnaire.
The majority (159/199, 79.9%) of participants were female, and their age ranged from 18 years to 70 years and older. The results show a reduction in BMI after the digital intervention. However, some variables influence the BMI reduction effect: sex, age, education, and smoking. The group that obtained the most benefit from the intervention consisted of those who were male, aged 30-39 years, highly educated, and nonsmokers. Although positive, some of the findings are slightly above the statistical significance threshold and therefore should be interpreted carefully.
Our study found weak evidence to support the effectiveness of the Heia Meg app in promoting healthier lifestyle choices. However, limitations and confounding factors suggest that further research in different populations with larger sample sizes is needed to confirm or disprove our findings.
肥胖是一种普遍且严重的慢性疾病，与异常或过多的脂肪堆积有关，会带来重大健康风险。成人和儿童的超重及肥胖率持续上升，1975年至2016年间，全球5至19岁超重或肥胖儿童的比例从4%增至18%。此外，2017年，近400万人死于超重或肥胖引发的并发症。
本研究旨在调查移动应用程序Heia Meg对促进营养和身体活动方面更健康生活方式选择的潜在影响。
与挪威卫生局合作开展了一项前瞻性纵向研究。通过Heia Meg应用程序招募参与者，并要求他们在使用该应用程序之前和之后完成一份问卷。第一次（干预前）问卷共纳入199份回复，而第二次（干预后）问卷获得了99份有效回复。
大多数参与者（159/199，79.9%）为女性，年龄在18岁至70岁及以上。结果显示数字干预后BMI有所降低。然而，一些变量会影响BMI降低效果：性别、年龄、教育程度和吸烟情况。从干预中受益最多的群体包括男性、30至39岁、受过高等教育且不吸烟的人。尽管结果呈阳性，但有些发现略高于统计学意义阈值，因此应谨慎解读。
我们的研究发现证据不足，无法支持Heia Meg应用程序在促进更健康生活方式选择方面的有效性。然而，由于存在局限性和混杂因素，需要在不同人群中进行更大样本量的进一步研究，以证实或反驳我们的发现。
