NoObesity App

Supporting the prevention and management of childhood obesity

Almost a quarter or more than a fifth of children in the United Kingdom (UK) are overweight or obese by the time they start school.

The UK Department of Health and Social Care’s national policy for combating childhood obesity has critical outcomes centred on sugar and caloric consumption reduction. To support the prevention and management of childhood obesity, Health Education England, in collaboration with key stakeholders, have designed two apps, NoObesity Professionals and NoObesity Families that provide digital learning and tools to encourage health lifestyles. Dr Edward Meinert, Associate Professor of eHealth at the University's Centre for Health Technology, is leading the evaluation of these apps, funded by Health Education England with expected results to be published in 2021.

Tailored advice and support at home

Families with children up to 15 years of age and their associated healthcare professionals will be provided with digital learning resources and tailored advice to encourage a healthy lifestyle with the NoObesity Families and NoObesity Professional apps.

Through the NoObesity Families app, families will be able to set themselves health goals, identify barriers to a healthy lifestyle and find strategies to overcome them. They will be able to record their progress and access tips and advice at home.

The NoObesity Professionals app will allow them to support families in the setting and tracking of goals. Linked to the Families app via a QR code, families can share their progress during health visitor consultations that will allow a more tailored approach to a more healthy lifestyle.

Usability, acceptability and influence

Dr Edward Meinert and his team will be looking at the influence the app has on activities to improve families' diet, physical activity and weight in order to better understand the factors which influence the uptake and use of digital health apps and will make recommendations to improve future designs.

Within this, participants will be asked to download and use the app for an average of 15-30 minutes a day for three months, providing feedback on the app. The app will be monitored by the team, looking at screen views, logins, time spent on the app, plans made and goals met. Via online video calls, participants will be asked about their experience.

Dr Edward Meinert

Dr Edward Meinert is Associate Professor of eHealth at the University of Plymouth. A chartered engineer, European Engineer, a Fellow of the British Computer Society and Chartered Management Institute, Edward was previously Sir David Cooksey Fellow in Healthcare Translation at the University of Oxford.

With extensive experience in data science, his research focuses on the use of digital technology in healthcare including mobile digital apps, wearables, robotics and clinical artificial intelligence with a primary aim to enable preventive healthcare.

Find out more about Dr Meinert.

Centre for Health Technology

Bringing together digital health and health technology expertise from across the University to drive the development, evaluation and implementation of innovative technologies, products, services and approaches to transform health and social care.

Find out more about the Centre for Health Technology