Abstract

Introduction: Use of smartphones and applications has experienced massive gains in the recent years. mHealth is use of mobile phones and technology in medical care. Diet and Nutrition apps have become a popular area of mHealth as there is great interest in tracking fitness, managing weight ,improving health or managing specific conditions such as food allergies, diabetes or pregnancy. While choosing such apps, the goals of the users and reliability of the app must be kept in consideration. Individuals should select highly rated apps which are backed by healthcare professionals such as nutritionists and dietitians based on their preferences such as calories counting, nutrition education or specific conditions. People find these apps by searching from app stores, reading about them on social media, or receiving a recommendation from peers and family. These apps are used as a source of communication between the individuals and nutrition and fitness trainers This study will explore the trends of fitness and diet related apps and insights on use and acceptance of such apps, criteria of features for choosing a specific app and barriers related to such apps which will help the programmers and dietitians to develop more customer-friendly and engaging apps which are reliable and evidence based. 

Methodology: An online survey will be used to gather data from adults (20_40 years) who are smartphone users. The survey will include questions related to socio-demographic information, use and acceptance of these applications, criteria for choosing the specific application, preferences and barrier. The questionnaire will also include height and weight questions to evaluate the body mass index (BMI). This questionnaire will be shared with the respondents through mails and social media platforms. 

Results: Applications which are more evidence-based are found to be less engaging. Approaching the app development from user perspective will help to overcome the limitations increasing the chances of adoption of more reliable and customer-friendly apps. These apps can be used for nutrition education for promotion of healthy eating and exercise in a cost-effective way. These apps should estimate the exact macronutrients and energy of the given food. Important and local foods should be included in nutrition database. These improvements will lead to reduction in health care costs by providing reliable nutrition and fitness information just on a click.