Parental Perceptions of Priorities and Features for a Mobile App to Promote Healthy Lifestyle Behaviors in Preschool Children: Mixed Methods Evaluation.

Background: Parents of preschool-aged children are a key focus for interventions to shape healthy lifestyle behaviors and support risk reduction for obesity from an early age. In light of limited existing evidence on the use of mobile technology to promote healthy lifestyle behaviors among young children, we sought to gather parental priorities regarding a mobile app focused on guided goal setting across the domains of diet, physical activity, media use, and sleep.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to explore the priorities and needs of parents of 2- to 5-year-old children to guide developing the content and features of a mobile app aimed at promoting healthy lifestyle behaviors using a novel convergent mixed methods approach.

Methods: From November to December 2021, we invited parents or guardians in Kentucky to complete a series of web-based concept mapping activities and semistructured interviews (total N=30). Using 2 lists of items focused on (1) parental priorities (content areas) and (2) application features, we asked participants to conduct concept mapping procedures for each list: a web-based sorting activity, where participants grouped items together into thematic piles that made sense to them, and a rating activity, where participants rated each item on a 5-point Likert-type scale. The qualitative interviews were transcribed verbatim, coded, and then analyzed by constant comparative analysis to identify themes. We used the quantitative findings from the concept mapping process to triangulate the resulting themes from the qualitative interviews and generate possible app content areas and features.

Results: The concept mapping results resulted in two 3-cluster concept maps. For parental priorities, participants identified the clusters Creating Healthy Eating Habits, Forming Boundaries, and Building Good Relationships; for app features, participant clusters included Eating Healthy, Using the App, and Setting Goals. The interview themes also represented those 2 domains. Overall, the participants indicated that the top priorities were general health and wellbeing, routine and setting boundaries, and food and healthy eating when it comes to building healthy behaviors among their preschool-aged children. Parents indicated that quick, easy, and child-friendly recipes, goal tracking, and the use of tips and notifications were the features they valued most.

Conclusions: This study contributes to the understanding of what parents or caregivers of young children want from mobile apps, in both content and features, to support building healthy behaviors and routines. The findings can inform future research on the development and evaluation of existing or new mobile apps. Specific app features identified to meet family needs should be designed closely with a diverse set of families and tested using rigorous designs to identify the mechanisms of action that mobile apps may use for efficacious healthy parenting outcomes.