Effectiveness of Obesicare application use in promoting healthy eating behaviours: a quasy-experimental study in Aceh, Indonesia

Introduction: Obesity rates in Aceh, Indonesia are rising, partly due to low nutrition literacy and the limited effectiveness of conventional counseling. This study aimed to develop and evaluate the effectiveness of the Obamacare mobile app in improving healthy eating behaviors using the 5A’s behavioral counseling framework. Methodology: A quasi-experimental, mixed-method study was conducted from January to April 2025 in Banda Aceh and Aceh Besar. The study involved 46 nutritionist for app validation and 96 adult participants who were randomly assigned to 5A’s based counseling groups. Results: The app demonstrated high functionality and usability. Significant improvements were observed in knowledge, attitudes, and behavior, with greater effect sizes in the 5A’s group. Did analysis showed a significant intervention effect. Discussion: Obamacare application has good functionality and suitability, with a score of, an average satisfaction score of, and good functionality, thereby confirming its potential as an effective nutritional intervention tool in preventing obesity. This study also highlights that the ease of use of the Obamacare app aligns well with trends in other digital health apps. The study found that while usability scored, there are several technical aspects that need improvement, particularly in terms of app stability and error handling. This opens opportunities for gradual improvements to the app's structure, especially in enhancing its reliability when used by the general public. Conclusions: The Obamacare app is an effective m Health tool for delivering behavioral nutrition counseling. The 5A’s approach yielded superior outcomes and is recommended for broader implementation in primary care to support obesity prevention.