Effectiveness of a Mobile Health Intervention for the Prevention of Overweight and Obesity in Adolescents

The prevention of overweight and obesity in adolescents is a public health priority given the impact of obesity on both short- and long-term health. Scientific evidence has shown that interventions in diet and physical exercise can reduce the risk of obesity in children and young people since adolescence is an ideal stage for educating on a healthy lifestyle and correcting the habits that may have been acquired in childhood. Smartphone applications (apps) can provide a useful alternative to overweight and obesity prevention measures. The objective of this study was to evaluate, through a randomized controlled clinical trial, the effect of an intervention based on a mobile health application (m-Health) on improving the degree of sport and nutrition knowledge, eating habits, and level of physical activity of adolescents. The sample consists of 305 adolescents, 154 in the intervention group and 151 in the control group that are evaluated at the beginning and 6 months later regarding sociodemographic, eating habits, food knowledge, level of physical activity, body mass index, and waist circumference. The educational intervention was carried out using an m-Health tool, a mobile phone application. The outcomes were changes in the mentioned variables to a six-month follow-up between the two groups.