A Mobile-Based Tailored Recommendation System for Parents of Children with Overweight or Obesity: A New Tool for Health Care Centers

Abstract

Childhood obesity is associated with unbalanced lifestyle patterns, and new strategies are needed to support parents in the compliance with the guidelines for children’s age. Tailored automatic recommendations mimic interpersonal counseling and are promising strategies to be considered for health promotion programs. This study aimed to develop and test a mobile recommendation system for parents of preschool children identified with overweight/obesity at health care centers. Evidence-based recommendations related to children’s eating, drinking, moving, and sleeping habits were developed and tested using a questionnaire. A pilot study was conducted in a health care center to test how using an app with those tailored recommendations, in video format, influenced parents’ perceptions of the child’s weight status and their knowledge about the guidelines, compared to a control group. The chi-squared test was used for categorical variables and the Mann–Whitney U test for continuous variables (p < 0.05). A high proportion of parents were already informed about the guidelines, but their children were not meeting them. After watching the tailored recommendations, there was an increased knowledge of the guideline on water intake, but there was no improvement in the perception of the child’s excessive weight. Parents may benefit from a mobile-based tailored recommendation system to improve their knowledge about the guidelines. However, there is a need to work with parents on motivation to manage the child’s weight with additional strategies.