Comprehensive overview of smartphone applications delivering child nutrition information

Abstract

Numerous smartphone-based applications that guide parenting, child nutrition, and child health-related knowledge are available. Here, we reviewed the applications available in the Google Play Store for child nutrition, primarily focused on children aged <5 y. The keywords used in the search were "child nutrition," "child nutrition status assessment," and "parenting." We identified 370 apps from the play store and 33 qualified for the review. Among 33 apps, 3 were not updated in the last 3 mo, and 19 did not mention their source of information. Four apps did not require the child's name, date of birth, and sex for logging in. Twenty-three apps were available in English only. The output features of the selected apps were food, growth, development and vaccine trackers, data export, reminders, meal planner, feeding tips, list of food, recipes details, information about nutrients, and question/answer session with the expert. Only eight apps provided access to consultation with experts and three suggested nutrient requirements of the child. Three apps scored similarly based on features, although the feature types differed. Findings from this review suggest that the apps do not follow any uniform guidelines for delivering the child nutrition information to the caregivers. About 50% of apps did not mention the consulted source for its development, indicating the unavailability of uniform guidelines or policy documents for child nutrition app development. App-based intervention studies are recommended to assess the effectiveness of child nutrition/health smartphone applications.

Keywords: Child; Health; Nutrition; Smartphone applications; mHealth.