OBJECTIVES: Snacks contribute to the diet quality in youth, which is often poor. Although the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has guidelines for healthy snacks, this is lost in translation when youth are choosing snacks. To develop a userfriendly app to help identify healthy snacks based on the US Department of Agriculture guidelines and evaluate the app's feasibility, usability, satisfaction, and acceptability. METHODS: The ‘Snackability’ app was developed following the ADDIE (analysis, design, development, implementation, and evaluation) model. The app was pilot tested for 2 weeks among college-age students (18–24 years) using questionnaires and focus groups. Based on the feedback received, the app was improved, and pilot-tested again. RESULTS: The app had a simple score (−1 to 11) and feedback (the higher the score, the healthier the snack is). The 1st pilot test among 12 students showed that the app's feasibility and usability were >50% (p < 0.05). Participants reported that the app was a good way to help individuals select and consume healthy snacks and suggested improving the search process and including average score reports, a ‘consumed history’ tab, gamification, notifications, and the option to add snacks not found. These were incorporated into the 2nd version of the app, which was pilot tested among 8 students. Feasibility, usability, and acceptability of the 2nd version were >50% (p < 0.05). Additional suggestions were to include images for serving size, snack alternatives, and barcode scanning, which were incorporated into the 3rd version. CONCLUSIONS: Snackability app was feasible, usable, satisfactory, and acceptable, and several features were improved as suggested by participants.
Adolescent ; Agriculture ; Diet ; Focus Groups ; Humans ; Serving Size ; Smartphone ; Snacks ; United States Department of Agriculture

OBJECTIVES: This study developed a smartphone nutritional application (app) for making smart and healthy choices when purchasing food in grocery stores and tested its feasibility, usability, satisfaction and acceptability. METHODS: “MyNutriCart” was developed following the ADDIE (analysis, design, development, implementation, and evaluation) model. The goals of the app were to improve food selection when purchasing foods in the grocery stores based on a pre-defined budget, to improve dietary patterns based on the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, and to improve weight status. It was evaluated within a pilot randomized trial using a convenient sample of 26 overweight or obese adults aged 21–45 years for 8 weeks. RESULTS: The developed app provided a grocery list of healthy foods to meet the individual requirements of all family members within a budget following the recommendations of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. The average use of the app was 75% on each purchase and only 37% of the recommended products were purchased. The main reasons for not purchasing the recommended items were that participants did not like these (28.5%) and that the item was unavailable in the supermarket (24.3%). Over 50% of participants considered the app as feasible, usable, satisfactory, and acceptable (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: “MyNutriCart” is the first available app for making smart and healthy choices when purchasing food in grocery stores. This app could be used as a tool to translate recommendations into a practical grocery list that meet the needs of a family within a budget.
Adult ; Budgets ; Diet ; Educational Technology ; Food Preferences ; Humans ; Mobile Applications ; Nutrition Policy ; Obesity ; Overweight ; Smartphone*