Effectiveness of interactive technology-assisted interventions on promoting healthy food choices: a scoping review and meta-analysis

Making healthy food choices is crucial for health promotion and disease prevention. While there are an increasing number of technology-assisted interventions to promote healthy food choices, the underlying mechanism by which consumption behaviours and weight status change remains unclear. Our scoping review and meta-analysis of seventeen studies represents 3988 individuals with mean ages ranging from 19 center dot 2 to 54 center dot 2 years and mean BMI ranging from 24 center dot 5 kg/m(2) to 35 center dot 6 kg/m(2). Six main outcomes were identified namely weight, total calories, vegetables, fruits, healthy food, and fats and other food groups including sugar-sweetened beverages, saturated fats, snacks, wholegrains, Na, proteins, fibre, cholesterol, dairy products, carbohydrates, and takeout meals. Technology-assisted interventions were effective for weight loss (g = -0 center dot 29; 95 % CI -0 center dot 54, -0 center dot 04; I-2 = 65 center dot 7 %, t = -2 center dot 83, P = 0 center dot 03) but not for promoting healthy food choices. This highlights the complexity in creating effective interactive technology-assisted interventions and understanding its mechanisms of influence and change. We also identified that there needs to be greater application of theory to inform the development of technology-assisted interventions in this area as new and improved interventions are being developed.