Article:: Digital Therapies

MINISTOP – promoting healthy lifestyles in pre-school children

MINISTOP is an evidence-based digital intervention aimed at creating healthy eating and activity habits for preschool-aged children. The app can be offered during the 3-year check-up by child healthcare services as support for parents in establishing healthy lifestyles for their children.

Contents of the MINISTOP App:

Different themes are presented every two weeks over six months. The app focuses on positive

reinforcement and advice without strict guidelines.

• Library of Health Information: FAQs, recipes, and videos, including dietitians answering common questions.
• Support for Behavior Change: Tips and strategies for changing habits, options for parents to track their habits, and tools to compare and see progress over time.

The content is available in multiple languages: Swedish, Somali, Arabic, and English, with text, video, audio, and images.

Clinically Validated

The intervention has been developed, evaluated in clinical trials, and continuously refined since 2016 as part of a research project led by Professor Marie Löf at Linköping University and Karolinska Institute.

Read more about the research behind MINISTOP:

International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity – Effectiveness of a Smartphone App (MINISTOP 2.0) integrated in primary child health care to promote healthy diet and physical activity behaviors and prevent obesity in preschool-aged children: randomised controlled trial

BMC Public Health – A 12-month follow-up of a mobile-based (mHealth) obesity prevention intervention in pre-school children: the MINISTOP randomised controlled trial

The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition – Mobile-based intervention intended to stop obesity in preschool-aged children: the MINISTOP randomised controlled trial

Regulatory:

MINISTOP is a medical technology product (MDR).

Read more about the development and application of digital therapies here.