Many health promotion apps are currently available. Two previous studies examined the content of apps for adult weight loss [16] and for smoking cessation [17]. Both reviews found the apps to be lacking in the use of theory- or evidence-informed practices [16, 17]. To our knowledge, there have been no previous systematic analyses of the content of apps for pediatric weight loss, HE, and PA. A systematic content analysis of apps was conducted using recommendations of the 2007 Expert Committee for Pediatric Obesity Prevention (ECPOP) [5]. The ECPOP was made of representatives from 15 national health care organizations, including the American Medical Association and the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control; a steering committee appointed scientists and clinicians to three writing groups that subsequently reviewed existing literature and provided recommendations for prevention and treatment of pediatric obesity [5]. In 2007, the ECPOP published a set of recommendations for the prevention and treatment of pediatric obesity that build off the original ECPOP suggestions from 1995, incorporating evidence-based research as well as supplemental recommendations from clinical practice experiences where evidence-based research was unavailable [5].
The present analysis examines the content of mobile apps for the prevention and treatment of pediatric obesity (children/teens