Quality and effectiveness of mobile nutrition apps for promoting healthy eating habits: Evidence from Peru

Background: Mobile health (mHealth) uses mobile devices to promote and prevent disease. In Peru, the growing use of smartphones has facilitated access to nutrition applications; however, the quality and accuracy of these tools vary, which may limit their effectiveness in promoting healthy behavior change. Objective: To evaluate the characteristics, quality, and influence of mobile applications related to diet and nutrition on the acquisition of healthy eating habits. Methods: A quasi-experimental study without an external control group was conducted. Twenty applications from the Google Play Store were analyzed, selected using the keywords "food," "nutrition," and "diet." App characteristics were recorded on a data collection form, and quality was assessed using the Mobile App Rating Scale (MARS). Based on the results, the application with the highest score was selected for evaluation over 10 weeks with 40 participants, divided into two groups: free version (n=20) and paid version (n=20). Results: All applications allowed for recording dietary intake and anthropometric measurements; 85% incorporated physical activity monitoring. The average quality score was 3.4 according to the MARS scale, with Foodvisor – Nutrition and Diet standing out at 3.9. After 10 weeks, a significant change in dietary habit scores was observed (p < 0.01), with a large effect size according to the rank-biserial correlation (95% CI: −0.99 to −0.96), in the pre-post analysis using the Wilcoxon test. Conclusions: The quality of the evaluated applications was moderate, with Foodvisor – Nutrition and Diet standing out for its association with favorable changes in dietary habits. Both versions showed significant effects in the pre-post analysis.