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Do Arabic weight-loss apps adhere to evidence-informed practices?

  • Original Research
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Translational Behavioral Medicine

Abstract

Mobile technology has been used successfully for promoting health and weight loss and for treating obesity. There is a high prevalence of smartphone and tablet users among the Saudi population. This study aimed to identify whether current Arabic weight-loss apps had features that adhered to evidence-informed practices. The six most relevant app stores were systematically searched using the Arabic words for weight and diet (n = 298). All apps that met the inclusion criteria (n = 65) were downloaded and examined for adherence to 13 evidence-informed practices. Latent class analysis identified two subgroups of apps: self-monitoring (15 % of apps) and advice-giving apps (85 %). The median number of evidence-informed practices was 1 (1, 2), with no apps having more than six and only nine apps including four to six. Meal planning was the most common feature (38 % of apps). These findings identify serious weaknesses in the currently available Arabic weight-loss apps. Thus, existing and future apps should include more features based on the best available evidence in the context of Arab culture.

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Acknowledgments

This research project was supported by a grant from the “Research Center of the Female Scientific and Medical Colleges,” Deanship of Scientific Research, King Saud University.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Food Science and Nutrition, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

    Aroub A. Alnasser MSc, PhD student & Abdulrahman S. Al-Khalifa Prof

  2. Division of Applied Health Sciences, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, UK

    Aroub A. Alnasser MSc, PhD student, Raja E. Amalraj PhD & Debbi Marais PhD

  3. Computer Laboratory, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK

    Arjuna Sathiaseelan PhD

Authors
  1. Aroub A. Alnasser MSc, PhD student
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  2. Raja E. Amalraj PhD
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  3. Arjuna Sathiaseelan PhD
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  4. Abdulrahman S. Al-Khalifa Prof
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  5. Debbi Marais PhD
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Aroub A. Alnasser MSc, PhD student.

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The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Adherence to ethical principles

This article does not contain any studies with human or animal participants performed by any of the authors.

Additional information

Implications

Practice: Weight-loss apps are widely available to the Arab population; however, these weight-loss apps lack localized content and adherence to evidence-informed practices.

Policy: Industry standards are needed for the development of Arabic weight-loss apps which present content that adheres to the evidence-informed practices, while effectively assisting the public with an approach that is tailored to the Arab population.

Research: Future Arabic weight-loss apps should be evaluated based on weight-loss outcomes and/or changes in behaviors related to weight loss.

Electronic supplementary material

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Supplementary Table 1

(PDF 52 kb)

Supplementary Table 2

Comparing app price, stars, and number of user ratings between two subgroups classified based on posterior probability. (DOCX 18 kb)

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Alnasser, A.A., Amalraj, R.E., Sathiaseelan, A. et al. Do Arabic weight-loss apps adhere to evidence-informed practices?. Behav. Med. Pract. Policy Res. 6, 396–402 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13142-015-0347-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13142-015-0347-7

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