Use of a Mobile Application by Parents to Prevent Obesity in Their Children Apply for Your Health

NCT07376252 | Enrolling By Invitation

• 1 other identifier: HIM 2017-086
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 743
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

Background. Lifestyles that promote a positive energy balance increase the prevalence of obesity. Due to the magnitude of this problem, community-level strategies are required on how to provide families with useful information to prevent it. Electronic media such as the Internet and mobile health applications are tools that have opened a new audience to send information, they are accessible and powerful, as well as the capacity to reduce associated costs, their access to information is uninterrupted, support , and personalized feedback. There is a need to develop and evaluate mobile health applications to establish consistent and effective methods to produce changes in health behavior in the population. Aim. To evaluate the impact of a mobile health application in nutrition and physical activity on nutritional status in school children. Methods. Community essay. Children from 4 primary schools in Mexico City will participate in the educational intervention. The schools were randomly assigned to one of two groups: 1) Apply for your health! group and 2) Control group. The educational intervention through the application will last 12 months and will focus on promoting healthy eating habits and physical activity, empowering parents to change habits. In the second year, the control group will be given access to the mobile application. At baseline, 6, 12, 18 and 24 months, children in both groups will have their nutritional status (anthropometry) and breakfast and school snack habits measured. Statistic analysis. Mixed effects models will be used to evaluate changes in BMI z-score within and between groups.

Conditions

Obesity; Overweight

Keywords

Obesity; Overweight; schoolchildren; mobile application; eHealth

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• BMI Z-score

  The BMI Z-score variable will be assessed continuously. To evaluate the change in the BMI Z-score, the difference between the corresponding measurements at 6, 12, 18, and 24 months versus the baseline measurement will be calculated. A minimum and maximum of -5 to +5 SD will be considered. Likewise, a value closer to zero will be considered the best nutritional condition.

  Anthropometric evaluations to obtain the BMI Z score are performed at baseline, 6, 12, 18 and 24 months.

Secondary Outcomes (2)

• Improvement in the quality of food consumed at breakfast

  Information on school breakfasts is collected at baseline, 6, 12, 18 and 24 months

• Improvement in the quality of food consumed at school lunch

  Information on school lunch is collected at baseline, 6, 12, 18 and 24 months within schools

Study Arms (2)

Intervention with the mobile application

EXPERIMENTAL

The educational intervention was implemented through the mobile application "Applícate por tu salud" (Get Healthy), with the goal of sending information to parents on how to improve eating habits at breakfast and school lunch. To this end, recipes, text messages, and infographics related to these topics were developed.

Behavioral: Applícate por tu salud

Control group

NO INTERVENTION

The control group received no educational intervention. Only anthropometric measurements and data collection on diet and physical activity were carried out. However, the results of the anthropometric measurements were given to the parents at different times.

Interventions

Applícate por tu salud BEHAVIORAL

The educational intervention using the mobile application "Applícate por tu salud" aims to promote, improve, and reinforce families' eating habits, focusing on breakfast and school lunches, in order to prevent overweight and obesity in schoolchildren. Through the application, using push notifications, tips in the form of text messages, infographics, videos, and recipes are sent four times a week, encouraging positive changes in eating habits related to breakfast and school snacks. The information was formatted as follows: no more than 30 words, suggesting activities that families could implement at home. Eighty-four messages were generated for breakfast and 104 messages for school snacks, including detailed information on planning, selecting, and comparing foods, as well as their preparation and consumption. The information was generated by three nutrition experts to standardize the language, and a designer created the infographics, videos, and recipes.

Intervention with the mobile application

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 5 Years - 11 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Child (0-17)

You may qualify if:

• School-aged children of both sexes, 5-11 years old, enrolled in the selected primary schools.
• Children and parents who sign the written informed consent and assent form.

You may not qualify if:

• Children participating in any weight loss program, with or without pharmacological treatment.
• Children with a rheumatological disease, diabetes, thyroid disorder, or any condition that compromises their nutritional status.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Hospital Infantil de Mexico Federico Gomez: lead
• Secretaría de Educación, Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación de la Ciudad de México: collaborator
• Fundación Gonzalo Río Arronte: collaborator

Study Sites (1)

Hospital Infantil de México Federico Gómez

Mexico City, Mexico City, 06720, Mexico

Location

Related Links

• El enlace proporcionado dirige directamente a la página de descarga de la aplicación en la tienda oficial de iOS (App Store), facilitando así el acceso inmediato para los usuarios de dispositivos Apple que deseen instalarla.
• El enlace proporcionado dirige directamente a la página de descarga de la aplicación en la tienda oficial de ANDORID, facilitando así el acceso inmediato para los usuarios de dispositivos Apple que deseen instalarla.

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Obesity; Overweight

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Overnutrition; Nutrition Disorders; Nutritional and Metabolic Diseases; Body Weight; Signs and Symptoms; Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: PREVENTION
• Intervention Model: CROSSOVER
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Dr.

Model Details: In this crossover study, the four schools were randomly assigned to receive the intervention or to be part of the control group. In the second period, the group initially assigned as the control received the intervention, while the group that had received the intervention in the first period did not receive it during this second phase.

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: January 22, 2026
• First Posted: January 29, 2026
• Study Start: April 8, 2024
• Primary Completion: June 14, 2024
• Study Completion (Estimated): August 30, 2026
• Last Updated: February 5, 2026

Record last verified: 2026-02

Locations

ME (1)