Mobile applications encourage healthy lifestyle choices
Researchers at the American Heart Association (AHA) have discovered that obile applications can encourage healthy lifestyle choices among users.
According to a study carried out by Nielsen in 2014, nearly one in five adults in the United States use one or more applications to track their physiological data. The most popular applications relate to physical exercise and heart rate measurement.
In 2010, the American Heart Association designed a 7-point program to prevent cardiovascular diseases (“Simple 7″). Four lifestyle behaviors are targeted: reduction in weight and smoking, healthy diet and regular activity. Three health factors, meanwhile, have been underlined: blood sugar levels, blood pressure and cholesterol levels.
A team of researchers from the AHA wanted to find out if these applications had an influence on general cardiovascular health and one of the 7 points in particular.
To do this, the researchers examined 10 years of data on the subject.
“Our review included a total of 69 studies that investigated the use of mobile technologies to reduce CVD risk behaviors, which included 10 RCTs [randomized controlled trials] targeting weight loss, 14 on increasing physical activity, 14 aiming to improve smoking cessation, 15 on blood glucose management, 13 on hypertension management, and only 3 targeting lipid management,” explain the researchers.
Increased physical activity and smoking reduction
The results, published in the journal Circulation, have brought to light several essential points. Regarding weight loss, scientists found that those who used applications in parallel to a general weight-loss program were more likely to succeed in the short term than those who tried to lose weight without the help of applications.
Furthermore, the study revealed that using an online weight-loss program helped users increase their physical activity. For tobacco consumption, the authors noted that using text messaging applications can double the chances of quitting, although 90% of users of those types of applications fail to quit smoking after six months, suggesting they might be best combined with a traditional program aimed at quitting.
Nevertheless, because of the weak sample used for these studies, the authors conclude that there remains insufficient proof to confirm that mobile technologies have a direct impact on risk factors.
“The fact that mobile health technologies haven’t been fully studied doesn’t mean that they are not effective. Self-monitoring is one of the core strategies for changing cardiovascular health behaviors. If a mobile health technology, such as a smartphone app for self-monitoring diet, weight or physical activity, is helping you improve your behavior, then stick with it,” said Lora E. Burke, professor of at the University of Pittsburgh.
