Digital Interventions to Promote Healthy Eating in Children: Umbrella Review

Abstract

Background eHealth and web-based service delivery have become increasingly common during the COVID-19 pandemic. Digital interventions may be highly appealing to young people; however, their effectiveness compared with that of the usual face-to-face interventions is unknown. As nutrition interventions merge with the digital world, there is a need to determine the best practices for digital interventions for children. Objective The aim of this study is to examine the effectiveness of digital nutrition interventions for children on dietary outcomes compared with status quo interventions (eg, conventional face-to-face programming or nondigital support). Methods We conducted an umbrella review of systematic reviews of studies assessing primary research on digital interventions aimed at improving food and nutrition outcomes for children aged <18 years compared with conventional nutrition education were eligible for inclusion. Results In total, 11 systematic reviews published since 2015 were included (7/11, 64%, were of moderate quality). Digital interventions ranged from internet, computer, or mobile interventions to websites, programs, apps, email, videos, CD-ROMs, games, telehealth, SMS text messages, and social media, or a combination thereof. The dose and duration of the interventions varied widely (single to multiple exposures; 1-60 minutes). Many studies have been informed by theory or used behavior change techniques (eg, feedback, goal-setting, and tailoring). The effect of digital nutrition interventions for children on dietary outcomes is small and inconsistent. Digital interventions seemed to be the most promising for improving fruit and vegetable intake compared with other nutrition outcomes; however, reviews have found mixed results. Conclusions Owing to the heterogeneity and duration of digital interventions, follow-up evaluations, comparison groups, and outcomes measured, the effectiveness of these interventions remains unclear. High-quality evidence with common definitions for digital intervention types evaluated with validated measures is needed to improve the state of evidence, to inform policy and program decisions for health promotion in children. Now is the time for critical, robust evaluation of the adopted digital interventions during and after the COVID-19 pandemic to establish best practices for nutrition interventions for children.

Evaluation of a long day care intervention targeting the mealtime environment and curriculum to increase children’s vegetable intake: a cluster randomised controlled trial using the multiphase optimisation strategy framework

“…These findings are consistent with the previous optimisation phase that found good acceptability from educators and appropriate fidelity, confirming the feasibility of the self-delivered online intervention via a larger national trial. The use of digital platforms has recently been identified as an ideal delivery medium for public health nutrition interventions in the ECEC setting (42) , particularly given the COVID-19 pandemic and associated move towards online technologies, with an increase in the use of digital interventions to promote healthy eating in children seen in recent years (43)(44)(45) . In addition, interventions that are delivered online can have a greater reach in the community, negating the requirements for face-to-face delivery and usually at a lower cost.…”

Edukasi sebagai Penghalang Berita Hoaks tentang Covid-19

“…Informasi tersebut dapat diakses melalui televisi, radio, koran, bahkan media sosial. Beberapa contoh media sosial seperti Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp dan lainnya (Li & Sun, 2021;Prowse & Carsley, 2021). Ketersediaan informasi pada beberapa perantara tersebut dapat mempengaruhi persepsi pasien tentang Covid-19 ataupun keinginan untuk vaksinasi (Jain et al, 2021;Sebastião, Steffens, Nakamura, & Papini, 2021;Vrdelja, Vrbovšek, Klopčič, Dadaczynski, & Okan, 2021).…”

The impact of social media interventions on eating behaviours and diet in adolescents and young adults: a mixed methods systematic review protocol

“…This will help consolidate the existing evidence on their effectiveness and address several research gaps, especially regarding the exploration of unintended consequences of providing such information online in a digital format. Previous systematic reviews in adjacent topics have mostly focused on the quantitative assessment of the effects of social media interventions on healthy eating behaviours among young people 35 36. Important questions remain on the ‘how’ and on the design of the most beneficial delivery approach 17 37 38…”