Effect of a Multicomponent mHealth Intervention on the Composition of Diet in a Population with Overweight and Obesity-Randomized Clinical Trial EVIDENT 3

Cristina Lugones-Sánchez, José I Recio-Rodríguez, Marta Menéndez-Suárez, Alicia Saz-Lara, José I Ramirez-Manent, María A Sánchez-Calavera, Leticia Gómez-Sánchez, Emiliano Rodríguez-Sánchez, Luis García-Ortiz, Evident Investigators Group, Cristina Lugones-Sánchez, José I Recio-Rodríguez, Marta Menéndez-Suárez, Alicia Saz-Lara, José I Ramirez-Manent, María A Sánchez-Calavera, Leticia Gómez-Sánchez, Emiliano Rodríguez-Sánchez, Luis García-Ortiz, Evident Investigators Group

Abstract

A balanced diet can help in the prevention of chronic diseases. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of an mHealth intervention on the distribution of macronutrients and the intake of food groups. A total of 650 participants were included in this multi-center, clinical, randomized, controlled trial (Evident 3 study). All participants were given brief advice about diet and exercise. The intervention group received, in addition, an app (Evident 3) for the self-recording of their diet and an activity tracker wristband for 3 months. Follow-up visits were performed at 3 and 12 months to collect the diet composition using the Food Frequency Questionnaire. There were decreases in the intake of total calories, fat, protein and carbohydrates in both groups throughout the study, without significant differences between them. The intervention group reduced the intake of cholesterol (-30.8; 95% CI -59.9, -1.7) and full-fat dairies (-23.3; 95% CI -42.8, -3.8) and increased the intake of wholemeal bread (3.3; 95% CI -6.7, 13.3) and whole-grain cereals (3.4; 95% CI -6.8, 13.7) with respect to the control group. No differences were found in the rest of the nutritional parameters. The brief advice is useful to promote a healthier diet, and the app can be a support tool to obtain changes in relevant foods, such as integral foods, and the intake of cholesterol. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov with identifier NCT03175614.

Keywords: diet records; healthy diet; mobile app; obesity; telemedicine.

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Flowchart of the study. FFQ: Food Frequency Questionnaire.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Screenshots of the Evident 3 app.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Dietary composition by energy percentage of the main nutrients per visit for each study group. SFA: Saturated Fatty Acids; PFA: Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids; MFA: Monounsaturated Fatty Acids.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Evolution of the intake of macronutrients throughout the study.

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