A smartphone application as a personalized treatment tool for adolescents with overweight: an explorative qualitative study

Background The present study is the first step of a 3-year European project in which a tailored smartphone application will be developed and tested as a potential tool in the personalized treatment of children and adolescents with overweight. Methods In this study, 10 focus groups ( n = 48 participants) were conducted in Belgium, The Netherlands and France with adolescents with overweight (12–16 years; n = 30) and parents of adolescents with overweight ( n = 18) to investigate their perceptions on (un)healthy behavior, the drivers of these behaviors, and the needs of an eHealth application for weight loss. A thorough thematic analysis was performed using Nvivo12. Results Results show that adolescents with overweight have a well-articulated perspective on (un)healthy behavior and their needs. Parents underestimate their own influence on the (un)healthy behavior of their children and report difficulties in healthy lifestyle parenting, which makes their role as a coach rather ambiguous. Concerning the needs of an eHealth application, both parents and adolescents formulated some challenging expectations regarding the content and the format including information, a monitoring feature and features that increase participants’ motivation to behave healthy. The results of this analysis will form the basis for designing a personalized eHealth application, which will be tested in a next phase. Conclusion We can conclude that adolescents have a well-articulated perspective on healthy and unhealthy behavior and their needs, whereby a new app could be of great help. It could function as a day-by-day diary and as a supportive coach.