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Objective India is experiencing an increasing prevalence of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. Mobile health technology may be a strategy to reduce the risk of cardiometabolic disorders. This paper reports on the effect of a mobile health intervention on cardiometabolic risk factors. Methods The mobile health and diabetes intervention was a 12-week reality television-based mobile health program application delivered via videos, short message service and infographics through a smartphone application followed-up weekly by health coach calls. mobile health and diabetes was conducted in a randomized control trial mode randomized controlled trial methodology in three Indian cities (Chennai, Bengaluru and New Delhi) with participants recruited via community screening events. This paper looks at the pre–post changes in cardiometabolic risks among the participants and the place of demography in influencing these. Results The mobile health and diabetes intervention group experienced a small reduction in waist circumference (1.8 cm) compared to the control group (0.5 cm, p < 0.05) and a greater decrease in systolic blood pressure (2.7 mmHg) compared to the control group ( p < 0.05). The improvements in cardiometabolic risk factors were more pronounced in individuals with obesity, although overall effects were very modest Conclusions Cardiometabolic risk factors can be reduced with a mobile health application using human coaching, especially in obese individuals, but the improvements are small. To be more effective and clinically meaningful, intensive engagement with the participants is probably required.

Essential steps in diabetes prevention and management include translating research into the real world, improving access to health care, empowering the community, collaborative efforts involving physicians, diabetes educators, nurses, and public health scientists, and access to diabetes prevention and management efforts. Mobile phone technology has shown wide acceptance across various ages and socioeconomic groups and offers several opportunities in health care including self-management as well as prevention of Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). The future seems to lie in mobile health (mHealth) applications that can use embedded technology to showcase advanced uses of a smartphone to help with prevention and management of chronic disorders such as T2DM. This article presents a narrative review of the mHealth technologies used for the prevention and management of T2DM. Majority (48%) of the studies used short message service (SMS) technology as their intervention while some studies (29%) incorporated applications for medication reminders and insulin optimization for T2DM management. Few studies (23%) showed that, along with mHealth technology, health-care professionals' support resulted in added positive outcomes for the patients. This review highlights the fact that an mHealth intervention need not be restricted to SMS alone.