Geert Egghe, Sweetbee BV
8 June 2021

The use of digital applications is not new in healthcare. With our use-to-use mobile application we offer a low entrance for youngsters to monitor their food intake and stimulate the awareness and importance of a well-balanced diet. From the start of the nutrishield project we kept in mind the fact that the only way to involve children in their curing process is through stimulating the monitoring of their food intake. Secondly, we are convinced that our digital tools gains value if the use is monitored and coached by professional nutritionists, in order to get the correct and necessary data.

Can an app be a used over a long period of time?
To answer this question, it’s our believe that the most important element is trying to get an overall view on the eating habits of young people, by making the app reader friendly and easy to use (playfull). The data coming from the app in combination with clinical patient related data enables us to make a personalized nutrition plan. So, the first and most important objective is to set out a roadmap for the patient, based on an observation period, strictly monitored by healthcare professionals. From the experience of other applications we estimate the period of intense use around 4 weeks, the use of a mobile application over a longer period of time will keep the motivation high and stimulate the patient and establish patient-empowerment. In short, it will enhance the motivation of the patient, as long as the reward for the patient is high and the key objectives (managing weight) are accomplished.

Science and mobile apps, a perfect combination
The data gathered from our mobile application is gained in a fast and easy way and can be used in the nutrishield clinical trials. More so, the project will link all the data from the nutritional intake from the mobile app with the personal biomarkers of the patient, feeding the logarithm with essential data to realize patterns and suggest personalized nutrition through artificial intelligence.