Relationship Between Exercise Behavior Change, Physical Activity Levels and Healthy Eating Attitudes in Individuals Using Mobile Phone Applications

This study aimed to examine exercise behavior change, physical activity levels and attitudes toward healthy eating among individuals who perform physical activity using HisApp mobile phone application. The present study was conducted with 246 participants (144 male and 102 female) using the HisApp application (mobile application of the Turkish Sport for All Federation). The weight, height, levels of physical activity and body mass index of the participants were recorded. An exercise behavior changes questionnaire, and a healthy nutrition attitude scale were administered to the participants through Google online survey. Findings showed that exercise behavior changes sub-dimensions and Health Attitude Scale sub-dimensions have a positive correlation. Physical activity positively affects healthy eating attitude sub-dimensions, while no effect was observed on knowledge about nutrition, feelings about nutrition, and malnutrition. The stages of exercise behavior change were related to the attitude scale toward healthy eating. There was a significant positive correlation between physical activity level and positive nutrition variables and a significantly negative correlation with malnutrition (p<0.05). This research concluded that positive attitudes towards healthy eating and encouraging people to make healthier choices can be attributed to a combination of education, accessibility, social norms, individual variables, and environmental factors. Additionally, it was found that individuals using the HisApp physical activity mobile application on their phones showed positive improvements in exercise behavior changes.