Abstract
Mobile-Health (mHealth) is the fastest-developing eHealth sector, with over 100 000 health applications (apps) currently available. Overweight/obesity is a problem of wide public concern that is potentially treatable/preventable through mHealth. This study describes the current weight-management app-market. Five app stores (Apple, Google, Amazon, Windows and Blackberry) in UK, US, Russia, Japan and Germany, Italy, France, China, Australia and Canada were searched for keywords: ‘weight’, ‘calorie’, ‘weight-loss’, ‘slimming’, ‘diet’, ‘dietitian’ and ‘overweight’ in January/February 2016 using App-Annie software. The 10 most downloaded apps in the lifetime of an app were recorded. Developers’ lists and the app descriptions were searched to identify any professional input with keywords ‘professional’, ‘dietitian’ and ‘nutritionist’. A total of 28 905 relevant apps were identified as follows: Apple iTunes=8559 (4634, 54% paid), Google Play=1762 (597, 33.9% paid), Amazon App=13569 (4821, 35.5% paid), Windows=2419 (819, 17% paid) and Blackberry=2596 (940, 36% paid). The 28 905 identified apps focused mainly on physical activity (34%), diet (31%), and recording/monitoring of exercise, calorie intake and body weight (23%). Only 17 apps (0.05%) were developed with identifiable professional input. Apps on weight management are widely available and very popular but currently lack professional content expertise. Encouraging app development based on evidence-based online approaches would assure content quality, allowing healthcare professionals to recommend their use.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 12 print issues and online access
$259.00 per year
only $21.58 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Yoo JH . The meaning of information technology (IT) mobile devices to me, the infectious disease physician. Infect Chemother 2013; 45: 244–251.
Murfin M . Know your apps: an evidence-based approach to the evaluation of mobile clinical applications. J Physician Assist Educ 2013; 24: 38–40.
Boulos MN, Wheeler S, Tavares C, Jones R . How smartphones are changing the face of mobile and participatory health care; an overview, with example from eCAALYX. Biomed Eng Online 2011; 10: 24.
GSMA 2015. The Mobile Economy. Available at http://www.gsmamobileeconomy.com/GSMA_Global_Mobile_Economy_Report_2015.pdf (accessed on 15 October 2015).
Wallace S, Clark M, White J . ‘It’s on my iPhone’: attitudes to the use of mobile computing devices in medical education, a mixed-methods study. BMJ Open 2012; 2: e001099.
European Commision. Healthcare in your pocket: unlocking the potential of mHealth. 2014. Available at http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-14-394_en.htm (accessed on 23 December 2015).
Payne KB, Wharrad H, Watts K . Smartphone and medical related app use among medical students and junior doctors in the United Kingdom (UK): a regional survey. BMC Med Inform Dec Mak 2012; 12: 121.
Ng M, Fleming T, Robinson M, Thomson B, Graetz N, Margon C et al. Global, regional, and national prevalence of overweight and obesity in children and adults during 1980-2013: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2013. Lancet 2014; 384: 766–781.
Vlassopoulos A, Combet E, Lean ME . Changing distributions of body size and adiposity with age. Int J Obesity. 2014; 38: 857–864.
Health and Social Care Information Centre. Statistics on obesity, physical activity and diet. 2015. Available at http://www.hscic.gov.uk/catalogue/PUB16988/obes-phys-acti-diet-eng-2015.pdf (accessed on 25 May 2016).
Tang J, Abraham C, Greaves C, Yates T . Self-directed interventions to promote weight loss: a systematic review of reviews. J Med Internet Res 2014; 16: e58.
Global Web Index. Device Ownership. 2016. http://insight.globalwebindex.net/device accessed on 11 September 2016.
IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics. Patient adoption of mHealth: use, evidence and remaining barriers to mainstream acceptance. 2015. Available at http://www.imshealth.com/files/web/IMSH%20Institute/Reports/Patient%20Adoption%20of%20mHealth/IIHI_Patient_Adoption_of_mHealth.pdf (accessed on 16 September 2016).
Farago P . App engagement: the matrix reloaded. 2012. Available at http://flurrymobile.tumblr.com/post/113379517625/app-engagement-the-matrix-reloaded (accessed on 16 September 2016).
Direito A, Jiang Y, Whittaker R, Maddison R . Apps for IMproving FITness and increasing physical activity among young people: the AIMFIT pragmatic randomized controlled trial. J Med Internet Res 2015; 17: e210.
Azar KM, Lesser LI, Laing BY, Stephens J, Aurora MS, Burke LE, Palaniappan LP . Mobile applications for weight management: theory-based content analysis. Am J Prev Med 2013; 45: 583–589.
Pagoto S, Schneider K, Jojic M, DeBiasse M, Mann D . Evidence-based strategies in weight-loss mobile apps. Am J Prev Med 2013; 45: 576–582.
Chen J, Cade JE, Allman-Farinelli M . The most popular smartphone apps for weight loss: a quality assessment. JMIR Mhealth Uhealth 2015; 3: e104.
Direito A, Dale LP, Shields E, Dobson R, Whittaker R, Maddison R . Do physical activity and dietary smartphone applications incorporate evidence-based behaviour change techniques? BMC Public Health 2014; 14: 646.
Food and Drug Administration organization (FDA). Mobile medical applications. guidance for industry and Food and Drug Administration staff. 2015. Available at. http://www.fda.gov/downloads/MedicalDevices/.../UCM263366.pdf (accessed on 21 December 2015).
European Commission. Commission staff working document on the existing legal EU framework applicable to lifestyle and wellbeing apps 2014. Available at file:///C://Downloads/CommissionStaffWorkingDocumentontheexistingEUlegalframeworkapplicabletolifestyleandwellbeingapps.pdf (accessd on 21 December 2015).
iPrescribeApps-From clinical problem to mobile solution. Available at https://iprescribeapps.com/ (accessed on 25 May 2016).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Competing interests
The authors declare no conflict of interest.
Additional information
Supplementary Information accompanies this paper on International Journal of Obesity website
Supplementary information
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Nikolaou, C., Lean, M. Mobile applications for obesity and weight management: current market characteristics. Int J Obes 41, 200–202 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/ijo.2016.186
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ijo.2016.186
This article is cited by
-
The Potential Role of Digital Health in Obesity Care
Advances in Therapy (2022)
-
Momentary predictors of dietary lapse from a mobile health weight loss intervention
Journal of Behavioral Medicine (2022)
-
Effectiveness of mobile application on changing weight, healthy eating habits, and quality of life in children and adolescents with obesity: a randomized controlled trial
BMC Pediatrics (2021)
-
Acceptability of technology-based physical activity intervention profiles and their motivational factors in obesity care: a latent profile transition analysis
International Journal of Obesity (2021)
-
The history and future of digital health in the field of behavioral medicine
Journal of Behavioral Medicine (2019)