Design and rationale of an innovative intervention addressing inadequate vegetable intake among young adults using social media and mobile gaming
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1
The University of Sydney, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Australia
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2
The University of Sydney, School of Information Technology, Australia
Rationale: Australian Dietary Guidelines recommend five servings of vegetables daily for prevention of chronic disease. Our secondary analysis of the 2011-12 National Nutrition and Physical Activity Survey data showed 18-24 year-old adults were the poorest consumers, with a mean (SD) intake of 2.7 serves (±3.2) daily. Although national campaigns have attempted to address this problem they have not specifically targeted young adults. Young adults typically live in the present moment so campaigns that use long term chronic disease as a source of extrinsic motivation fail to engage them. Novel approaches to improving vegetable consumption are required. The increased popularity of social media and mobile-gaming among young adults provides an opportunity for an innovative and age-appropriate intervention.
Aims: This body of work aimed to translate findings from our comprehensive literature reviews on the use of mobile-phone technology in nutrition programs to an evidenced- based intervention for improving vegetable intake in young adults. Objectives included the use of formative evaluation to guide iterative development of a user-centered design that addresses key barriers to, and psychosocial determinants of vegetable intake.
Methodology: Review of the literature was guided by the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA). Scientific databases, Information Technology conference proceedings, and grey literature were searched. Two reviewers conducted screening, data-extraction, and quality assessments. Findings helped to inform the intervention design. The COM-B framework was used for the development of age-appropriate intervention materials to be tested through focus groups and think-aloud interviews.
Results: Existing studies using social media and mobile-gaming were found to promote improvements in nutrition outcomes such as knowledge and attitudes. The pooled effect of electronic interventions directly targeting vegetable intake was 0.15 (Cohen’s d), 95% CI 0.04–0.28. Behaviour change techniques which supported improvements included goal setting, self-monitoring and provision of tailored feedback. An app for goal setting and self-monitoring of vegetable intake was developed alongside experts in human computer interaction from the School of Information Technology at The University of Sydney. It included gamification features and feedback push notifications for use alongside a Facebook intervention which provides real-time social support and educational materials that address the barriers to vegetable intake relevant to this age group, such as short cooking videos to enhance cooking literacy. Focus group testing has confirmed the acceptability of these materials. Think-aloud interviews will be used in the final stages of iterative app design prior to trialing the proposed intervention in a randomised controlled study in early 2017.
Conclusion: The development of this novel and age-appropriate intervention employed a best practice approach, including review of existing studies, contributions from a multidisciplinary team and grounding in behaviour change theory. Preliminary testing with end users has indicated positive support. If effective, this technology could allow for the widespread dissemination of a vegetable intervention in a low-cost, accessible and engaging manner.
Acknowledgements
With acknowledgements to honours student Kartik Gupta for his contributions to coding the vegetable tracking app.
Keywords:
young adults,
Mobile Gaming,
Social Media,
fruit and vegetables,
mHealth app,
Interventions
Conference:
3rd UCL Centre for Behaviour Change Digital Health Conference 2017: Harnessing digital technology for behaviour change, London, United Kingdom, 22 Feb - 23 Feb, 2017.
Presentation Type:
Research abstract
Topic:
Digital Health
Citation:
Nour
MM,
Kay
J and
Allman-Farinelli
M
(2017). Design and rationale of an innovative intervention addressing inadequate vegetable intake among young adults using social media and mobile gaming.
Front. Public Health.
Conference Abstract:
3rd UCL Centre for Behaviour Change Digital Health Conference 2017: Harnessing digital technology for behaviour change.
doi: 10.3389/conf.FPUBH.2017.03.00063
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Received:
22 Feb 2017;
Published Online:
22 Feb 2017.
*
Correspondence:
Miss. Monica M Nour, The University of Sydney, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Sydney, NSW, 2006, Australia, mnou2973@uni.sydney.edu.au