NYMC Faculty Publications

Weight Loss Following Use of a Smartphone Food Photo Feature: Retrospective Cohort Study

Additional Author Affiliation

Touro College

DOI

10.2196/11917

Journal Title

JMIR mHealth and uHealth

First Page

11917

Last Page

11917

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

5-29-2019

Department

Pediatrics

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Tracking of dietary intake is key to enhancing weight loss. Mobile apps may be useful for tracking food intake and can provide feedback about calories and nutritional value. Recent technological developments have enabled image recognition to identify foods and track food intake.

OBJECTIVE: We aimed to determine the effectiveness of using photography as a feature of a smartphone weight loss app to track food intake in adults who were overweight or obese.

METHODS: We analyzed data from individuals (age, 18-65 years; body mass index≥25 kg/m

RESULTS: Weight loss was greater in the group using the photo feature (Δ=0.14%; 95% CI 0.06-0.22; P

CONCLUSIONS: This study was the first to examine the effect of a food photo feature to track food intake on weight loss in a free-living setting. Use of photo recognition was associated with greater weight loss, which was mediated by the duration of app use and number of logged days in the program.

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