Diet app use by sports dietitians: a survey in five countries

Despite the hundreds of diet apps available for use on smartphones (mobile phones), no studies have examined their use as tools for dietary assessment and tracking in sports nutrition.

The aim is to examine the prevalence and perceptions of using smartphone diet apps for dietary assessment and tracking among sports dietitians.

A cross-sectional online survey to examine the use and perception of diet apps was developed and distributed to sports dietitians in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States (US).

The overall response rate from the 1709 sports dietitians invited to participate was 10.3% (n=180). diet apps were used by 32.4% (57/176) of sports dietitians to assess and track the dietary intake of athletes. Sports dietitians from the US were more likely to use smartphone diet apps than sports dietitians from other countries (OR=5.61, 95% CI 1.84-17.08, P=.002). Sports dietitians used 28 different diet apps, with 56% (32/57) choosing MyFitnessPal. Overall, sports dietitians held a positive perception of smartphone diet apps, with the majority of respondents viewing diet apps as "better" (25/53, 47%) or "equivalent" (22/53, 41%) when compared with traditional dietary assessment methods.

Nearly one-third of sports dietitians used mobile phone diet apps in sports nutrition practice, and viewed them as useful in helping to assess and track the dietary intake of athletes.