ObjectivesConsumers routinely seek health and nutrition-related information from online
sources, including social media platforms. This study identified popular
online nutrition content to examine the advice and assess alignment with the
Australian Guideline to Healthy Eating (AGHE).MethodsWe used Facebook page “likes” as an indicator of popularity to
identify online nutrition and diet content. Websites and blogs associated
with pages that had more than 100,000 Australian likes on 7th September 2017
were included. The dietary advice promoted was collected and compared with
the AGHE across nine categories (Vegetables, Fruits, Legumes, Grains, Lean
Meat, Dairy/Alternative, Fat, Sugar, Salt)ResultsNine Facebook pages met the inclusion criteria. The four most-liked pages
were hosted by celebrities. Only two pages and their associated websites had
advice consistent with AGHE recommendations across all nine categories
reviewed. The concept of “real food” was a popular theme
online. While most sources advocated increasing vegetable consumption and
reducing processed food, other advice was not evidence-based and frequently
deviated from the AGHE.DiscussionHealth information seekers are exposed to a variety of online dietary
information and lifestyle advice. While few public health goals are
promoted, there are many contradictions, as well as deviations from the
AGHE, which can create confusion among health information seekers. Public
health organisations promoting AGHE on Facebook are few and not as
popular.ConclusionPublic health organisations need to be more engaged on popular internet
platforms such as Facebook. The prevailing popular nutrition advice online
may increase consumer confusion, scepticism and even avoidance of dietary
advice. Proactive efforts are needed by public health organisations, in
partnership social marketing experts, to create and share engaging and
accurate nutrition content. Partnership with celebrities should be explored
to improve reach and impact of evidence-based diet recommendations
online.
This paper draws on a 2-week design workshop conducted at a rural primary school in northern India to provide recommendations on carrying out participatory design with school children in rural, underdeveloped regions. From our experiences in prototyping low-tech and hi-tech English language learning games with rural student participants, we advocate that researchers build a more equal relationship that is qualitatively different from one between teachers and students, enlist local adults and children as facilitators, and explore hi-tech prototyping to inspire the best designs.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.