BACKGROUND Healthy eating during pregnancy is fundamental to fetal development and offspring health. However, promoting adequate eating habits faces challenges, such as limited access to and adherence to nutritional recommendations. Mobile health (mHealth) technology, through smartphone applications, has emerged as a promising tool to complement nutritional monitoring in pregnant women. Nevertheless, the quality of information provided by these apps, which often lacks a scientific basis, remains a concern. OBJECTIVE This review aimed to map the effectiveness and practical use of mobile applications in promoting changes in pregnant women's eating habits, with a focus on improving their diet during this critical period. METHODS This scoping review followed the recommendations proposed by the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR). The following databases were searched: PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, Embase, Cochrane, and BVS (Biblioteca Virtual em Saúde), as well as grey literature (Google Scholar and studies referenced in other articles). The eligibility criteria included all articles published in Portuguese or English up to March 2025 that focused on the use of mHealth applications for nutritional guidance during prenatal care. The descriptors used were maternal health, pregnancy, mHealth, mobile applications, healthy diet, and nutritional education. RESULTS Sixteen articles published between 2018 and 2023 were included after full-text screening. The intervention periods ranged from two weeks to eighteen months. The most frequent gestational age for inclusion in the studies was ≤20 weeks (62.5%). The primary objectives of these applications are managing gestational weight gain, controlling or preventing gestational diabetes mellitus, and providing reliable information on prenatal nutrition and health. Fourteen studies (87.5%) reported beneficial outcomes for pregnant individuals, and all interventions were supplementary to prenatal care without replacing regular consultations. CONCLUSIONS mHealth interventions in prenatal care can contribute to the improvement of health behaviors in pregnant women and serve as complementary tools. Further research involving collaboration among healthcare professionals, technology experts, and policymakers is required to ensure the effectiveness and accessibility of such applications.
BONINI et al. (Tue,) studied this question.