Empowering Postpartum Women: The Role of mHealth Apps in Promoting Mental Health and Healthy Weight Management

Background The proliferation of mobile health (mHealth) applications has markedly influenced self-management practices related to obesity and mental well-being. However, the effectiveness of fitness apps in enhancing health outcomes is closely tied to their frequency of usage, a factor that has been insufficiently explored, especially among postpartum populations. Objective This study aimed to propose and empirically test a structural equation modeling (SEM) framework to examine the moderating effects of fitness app usage frequency on the relationships among obesity, lifestyle behaviors, dietary habits, and mental health outcomes among postpartum women. Methods A cross-sectional online survey was administered to postpartum women in Malaysia within one year after childbirth, collecting 468 valid responses. Participants were categorized into four distinct groups based on their frequency of fitness app usage: daily, weekly, rarely, and never. Results The SEM analyses highlighted significant variations among the four user groups. The daily-user model exhibited the strongest explanatory power (R² = 0.82), followed by weekly (R² = 0.79), rarely (R² = 0.66), and never-user groups (R² = 0.59). Specifically, in the daily-user group, demographic factors, lifestyle behaviors, dietary intake, and Body Mass Index (BMI) explained 82% of the variance in mental health outcomes. Across all usage categories, BMI consistently demonstrated a significant negative relationship with mental health issues, suggesting better mental health among participants with lower BMI. Further, factor loading analyses identified screen time (0.89) and physical activity (0.81) as dominant indicators of lifestyle behaviors. Frequent app users (daily and weekly) displayed healthier dietary choices and lower BMI scores compared to infrequent users. Conclusions Regular engagement with fitness mHealth applications substantially enhances mental health and supports obesity management among postpartum women. This study underscores the critical moderating role of app usage frequency in optimizing health outcomes, providing practical implications for public health strategies and interventions targeting postpartum populations.