Is Heia Meg, a smartphone app, effective in helping users to make healthier lifestyle decisions about nutrition and physical activity? (Preprint)

BACKGROUND Obesity is a prevalent and serious chronic condition associated with abnormal or excessive fat buildup that poses significant health risks. The rates of overweight and obesity in adults and children continue to rise, with global rates of overweight or obese children aged 5–19 years growing from 4% to 18% between 1975 and 2016. Furthermore, in 2017, nearly 4 million people died due to complications arising from being overweight or obese. OBJECTIVE The present study aims to investigate the potential impact of the mobile application Heia Meg on promoting healthier lifestyle choices regarding nutrition and physical activity. A prospective longitudinal study was conducted in collaboration with the Norwegian Directorate of Health. METHODS Participants were recruited via the Heia Meg app, and were asked to complete a questionnaire before and after using the app. A total of 199 responses were included in the first (pre-intervention) questionnaire, while 99 valid responses were obtained in the second (post-intervention) questionnaire. RESULTS The majority of participants were women, and their age ranged from 18 years to 70 years and older. Men had a higher Body Mass Index (BMI) than women, but had a higher health score. The results show a reduction in BMI after the digital intervention, but a higher health score was observed in the pre-intervention group. The BMI accounted for a significant amount of variance in the individual’s health score for both groups (26.22% & 18.63%). Regression analysis showed that gender, age, education, smoking, and BMI had a statistically significant effect and accounted for a significant amount of variance (44% & 35%) in the health score. CONCLUSIONS Our study found weak evidence to support the effectiveness of the Heia Meg app in promoting healthier lifestyle choices. However, limitations and confounding factors suggest that further research is needed to confirm our findings. Keywords: lifestyle change, motivation, health, smartphone applications, Heia Meg CLINICALTRIAL Norwegian senter of research 385157