The ubiquity of mobile devices and their use in daily life create new paths for health
promotion interventions, such as promoting healthy behaviors among families.
1
,Pew Research Center. Mobile fact sheet. https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/fact-sheet/mobile/. Accessed February 24, 2022.
2
The preschool years are an important stage of development when children begin displaying
independence while still requiring guidance to help them develop healthy eating and
physical activity (PA) behaviors.
3
,4
At the same time, preschoolers are engaging with screens, with 98% of young children
having access to digital devices and 42% owning a tablet.
5
The increase in the use of technology can pose both challenges and opportunities,
particularly for parents who must define time limits and the type of media children
access (ie, educational vs entertainment) while also balancing screentime with other
activities, such as developing literacy skills (both reading and numeracy), engaging
in play (active, dramatic, social, etc), and developing social-emotional skills, all
of which are essential for healthy growth and development. Mobile applications (apps)
can serve as tools that help parents positively engage with their children and assist
them in developing skills needed for optimal development, including eating and movement
skills.
6
Digital strategies, such as mobile apps, can substitute some of the time spent engaging
in entertainment with education about foods and eating while also potentially replacing
some sedentary screentime with active screentime, thus, moving children closer to
respective recommendations.To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
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REFERENCES
Pew Research Center. Mobile fact sheet. https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/fact-sheet/mobile/. Accessed February 24, 2022.
- Motor Learning and Development.2nd ed. Human Kinetics, 2018
- Parent perceptions of mobile device use among preschool-aged children in rural Head Start centers.J Nutr Educ Behav. 2018; 50 (e1): 83-89
- Developmental and environmental influences on young children's vegetable preferences and consumption.Adv Nutr. 2016; 7: 220S-231S
- What is the effect of touchscreen technology on young children's learning?: a systematic review.Educ Inf Technol. 2022; 27: 6893-6911
- Development of game-based m-learning apps for preschoolers.Educ Sci. 2021; 11: 229
- A systematic evaluation of digital nutrition promotion websites and apps for supporting parents to influence children's nutrition.Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act. 2020; 17: 17
- Digital intervention strategies for increasing physical activity among preschoolers: systematic review.J Med Internet Res. 2022; 24: e28230
- HEROs: design of a mixed-methods formative research phase for an ecocultural intervention to promote healthy eating and activity behaviors in rural families with preschoolers.J Nutr Educ Behav. 2018; 50: 736-745
- Bellows LL. Mobile device use among rural, low-income families and the feasibility of an app to encourage preschoolers’ physical activity: qualitative study.JMIR Pediatr Parent. 2018; 1: e10858
- The SPORKS for Kids: integrating movement into nutrition education.J Nutr Educ Behav. 2021; 53: 903-906
- Mobile app rating scale: A new tool for assessing the quality of health mobile apps.JMIR mHealth uHealth. 2015; 3: e27
Article info
Publication history
Published online: September 20, 2022
Accepted:
August 4,
2022
Footnotes
Conflict of Interest Disclosure: The second author of this article (S. L. Johnson) serves on the JNEB staff as Senior Associate Editor. Review of this article was handled, exclusively, by the Editor-in-Chief to minimize conflict of interest. The rest of the authors have not stated any conflicts of interest.
Identification
Copyright
© 2022 Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
