Content and features of Mobile health (mHealth) for mother and child nutrition in the first 1000 days of life (family based intervention): A systematic review

Abstract

Background: Improving mother and child nutrition during the first 1000 days of life (DoL) is one of the major areas where mHealth has demonstrated great promise. A lot of mHealth is already used in society. However, no study examines the content and features of mobile health. Aim: This study aims to examine the difference in content and features of mHealth intervention for maternal and child nutrition throughout the first 1000 days of life. Thus, new apps can be enhanced. Methods: The online journal databases that offer free papers from Scopus-indexed journals published in 2017–2022 served as the primary sources for the literature included in this study. Several keywords were used in the literature search, which used the databases Google Scholar, Science Direct, and PubMed. A total of 8 articles were included in the literature review. Results: Existing mHealth provides content and features to support and improve the health status of pregnant women, breastfeeding mothers, and children aged 0–24 months. mHealth interventions have the potential to improve maternal and child nutrition health in the first 1000 days of life by providing education, communication, support, data collection and analysis, cultural appropriateness, accessibility, and capacity building for health workers. However, it is crucial to address challenges such as evidence-based design, privacy and security, sustainability, and data management, and to ensure cultural appropriateness and accessibility for all populations. Conclusions: The more complete the content, features, and uses of mHealth, the greater the users’ acceptance.