Harnessing SmartPhones to Personalize Nutrition in a Time of Global Pandemic

Abstract

The soar in COVID-19 cases around the globe has forced many to adapt to social distancing and self-isolation. In order to reduce contact with healthcare facilities and other patients, the CDC has advocated the use of telemedicine, i.e., electronic information and telecommunication technology. While these changes may disrupt normal behaviors and routines and induce anxiety, resulting in decreased vigilance to healthy diet and physical activity and reluctance to seek medical attention, they may just as well be circumvented using modern technology. Indeed, as the beginning of the pandemic a plethora of alternatives to conventional physical interactions were introduced. In this Perspective, we portray the role of SmartPhone applications (apps) in monitoring healthy nutrition, from their basic functionality as food diaries required for simple decision-making and nutritional interventions, through more advanced purposes, such as multi-dimensional data-mining and development of machine learning algorithms. Finally, we will delineate the emerging field of personalized nutrition and introduce pioneering technologies and concepts yet to be incorporated in SmartPhone-based dietary surveillance.

What Intervention Elements Drive Weight Loss in Blended-Care Behavior Change Interventions? A Real-World Data Analysis with 25,706 Patients

“…For example, new modes of analysis are emerging: millions of app-derived meal logs can be used to analyze a patient’s meal composition, potentially enabling automated diet recommendations [ 40 ]. Tailoring [ 41 ] and personalization [ 42 , 43 ] of BBCI in particular will profit from subgroup analyses of large data sets. In addition, research is needed on how BBCI can improve existing treatment approaches and nutrition concepts for weight management [ 44 ].…”

Validating Accuracy of a Mobile Application against Food Frequency Questionnaire on Key Nutrients with Modern Diets for mHealth Era

“…The trend on the common use of smartphones and with most mobile-phone users accessing Internet-based health apps, mobile apps might be used to facilitate personalized nutrition in preparation for the mobile health (mHealth) era via an accurate assessment of essential micro-nutrients [42,50,51]. The mHealth apps with data analytics platforms might also help improve access to quality nutrition data for a faster assessment of key micronutrients with intakes on fruits, vegetables, fats, and sugar-sweetened beverages to achieve personalized nutrients [52][53][54][55]. As mobile apps offer more versatility with lower respondent burden and faster feedback, they could be more cost-effective in facilitating self-monitoring of health behaviors to improve healthy eating habits [55][56][57][58][59].…”

The Effect of COVID-19–Related Lifestyle Changes on Depression

“…To facilitate the maintenance of a healthy lifestyle in the current non-face-to-face environment, the healthcare and wellness industries have made considerable advances in the development of e-health programs and in the field of wearable technologies designed to help users maintain healthy habits such as increasing their levels of physical activity [ 20 ], boosting their immune systems, and following balanced diets [ 21 ]. Hence, we suggest that governments and other stakeholders develop policies and programs that promote and support healthy lifestyles during both the pandemic response and recovery periods.…”