Maternal body weight and diet management system

Abstract

Background: Body weight control is a significant issue to pregnant women. Overweight or underweight not only affects the normal growth of the fetus but also results in health impacts for pregnant women. Currently, some mobile applications which have released to stress how to achieve the purpose of weight control are not suitable for pregnant women. To design an appropriate mobile application of body weight control for pregnant women, a multidiscipline team collaborated. Objective: This study proposed a mobile application approach to assist women to maintain an ideal weight control during their pregnancy. In addition, the usefulness of the application was evaluated among pregnancy women. Methods: Firstly, the guidance of weight and diet management for pregnant women were obtained from textbooks and professional healthcare providers including nurses and nutritionists. Secondly, the researcher considered aspects of Human-Computer Interaction and theories of information technology behavior to design the mobile application. Finally, 52 pregnant women were recruited to test the prototype, which is a mobile application available on different devices with browsers. Conclusions: Compared with other similar types of body weight and diet management mobile applications, the proposed application offers several characteristics to increase pregnant women's willingness to use it. Keywords: Gestational weight gain, Maternal information systems, Multi-platform, Internet, Maternal weight, Mobile devices