Mobile-Health (mHealth) is the fastest-developing eHealth sector, with over 100 000
health applications (apps) currently available. Overweight/obesity is a problem of
wide public concern that is potentially treatable/preventable through mHealth. This
study describes the current weight-management app-market. Five app stores (Apple,
Google, Amazon, Windows and Blackberry) in UK, US, Russia, Japan and Germany, Italy,
France, China, Australia and Canada were searched for keywords: 'weight', 'calorie',
'weight-loss', 'slimming', 'diet', 'dietitian' and 'overweight' in January/February
2016 using App-Annie software. The 10 most downloaded apps in the lifetime of an app
were recorded. Developers' lists and the app descriptions were searched to identify
any professional input with keywords 'professional', 'dietitian' and 'nutritionist'.
A total of 28 905 relevant apps were identified as follows: Apple iTunes=8559 (4634,
54% paid), Google Play=1762 (597, 33.9% paid), Amazon App=13569 (4821, 35.5% paid),
Windows=2419 (819, 17% paid) and Blackberry=2596 (940, 36% paid). The 28 905 identified
apps focused mainly on physical activity (34%), diet (31%), and recording/monitoring
of exercise, calorie intake and body weight (23%). Only 17 apps (0.05%) were developed
with identifiable professional input. Apps on weight management are widely available
and very popular but currently lack professional content expertise. Encouraging app
development based on evidence-based online approaches would assure content quality,
allowing healthcare professionals to recommend their use.