Abstract
Background and objectives: The high obesity prevalence remains a significant global and local health concern. Digital technologies, including electronic health (e-health) and mobile health (m-health), are being increasingly utilised to prevent and address people’s excess weight. Nutrition professionals’ experiences with digital tools in local practices is a relatively unresearched area. The aim of this small study was to explore the utilisation of e-health and m-health by locally registered nutrition and dietetic professionals for weight prevention and management. Methods: An adapted, anonymised questionnaire was disseminated via social media between November 2021 and January 2022 following ethical approval. Twenty-four questions— (twenty-three close-ended and one open-ended) were included and covered: demographics, the challenges experienced and their personal attitudes on e-health and m-health. The data were statistically analysed using SPSS (IBM, version 23), where descriptive statistics and chi-squared tests were utilised. Results: The sample respondents (n = 20) were mainly female (85.0%, n = 17), with half in the 25–34 age category (50.0%, n = 10). A total of 90.0% (n = 18) used technologies in practice, with e-health technologies being preferred. Novel technologies were mainly used for informational or educational purposes (95.0%, n = 19) and to communicate with clients (85.0%, n = 17). Video conferencing (89.5%, n = 17) and educational websites (84.2%, n = 16) were the most popular tools. A total of 90.0% (n = 18) believed that these technologies could support weight management through behaviour change support (100.0%, n = 20) or provide updated information on healthy and sustainable eating (95.0%, n = 19). A total of 95.0% (n = 19) wanted to receive training/further training in digital technologies. The main personal challenge experienced was a difficulty in utilising these technologies (65.0%, n = 13). The main reasons for using digital health were to improve their clients’ nutrition knowledge (85.0%, n = 17) and engagement with the self-management of weight and for overall health (80.0%, n = 16). Discussion: The results of this small study suggest an overall interest, but with further training needs. More research on e-health and m-health is recommended as part of an overall strategy to reduce the obesity prevalence in Malta.
Author Contributions
Conceptualization, C.C.; methodology, C.C and H.Z.; data curation; H.Z.; formal analysis, H.Z; writing—original draft preparation, H.Z.; writing—review and editing, C.C.; All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.
Funding
This research received no external funding.
Institutional Review Board Statement
Ethical approval from the Faculty Research Ethics Committee (FREC) (Faculty of Health Sciences) of the University of Malta (UM) was obtained. Approval was granted on 23rd September 2021 (unique form ID: 9203 23092021).
Informed Consent Statement
Informed consent was obtained from all subjects involved in the study.
Data Availability Statement
The data presented in this study are available in Open Access Repository University of Malta (OAR@UM) at https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/109301 (accessed on 14 November 2023).
Conflicts of Interest
The authors declare no conflict of interest.
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