Use of Social Media, Network Avenues, Blog and Scientific Information Systems Through the Website Promoting the Mediterranean Diet as a Method of a Health Safeguarding

Abstract

The Mediterranean Diet (MD) is considered by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) as “the best for people and the most sustainable for the environment”. In the era of Big Data, new tools are emerging to facilitate health care research. One form of Big Data is the one that accumulates in the traffic caused by publications on the web and social networks. These data can provide valuable information about the epidemiological patterns of certain behavior and interest of the population. The objective of this study was to explore through websites and its associated official social media on information related to different publications of both international or national nutrition official agencies as well as publications of scientific diffusion for the design of future nutritional education and MD programs. This study opens up future avenues of research, such as studying the acceptance of post writing in other languages in those northern European countries where MD is being implemented. Or through the use of subtitled videos, due to the great acceptance of this format. The MD remains in 2020 considered the best option to follow a healthy diet without difficulties, therefore it is very important to continue promoting the need for good nutritional health based on its qualities.

Evolution of Nutritional Habits Behaviour of Spanish Population Confined Through Social Media

“…We used the official social media (Instagram) of a Spanish winter sports federation (@fadiandalucia) as representative sample of the physically active Spanish population who have more than 1,000 people federated in Spain and more than 2,200 followers. We also used the official social media (Instagram) of scientific knowledge transfer academic platform designed by our nutritional research group in the Department of Nutrition and Food Science of the University of Granada, Spain call MM Health Science (@mmhealthscience) [section: “#lasaludnutricionalnoseconfina” (#nutritionalhealthisnotconfined)] ( 3 ) with more than 820 followers. The validity and reliability of this tool used in this study were obtained through the research work published by Mariscal-Arcas ( 3 , 6 , 7 , 11 – 14 ).…”

“…We also used the official social media (Instagram) of scientific knowledge transfer academic platform designed by our nutritional research group in the Department of Nutrition and Food Science of the University of Granada, Spain call MM Health Science (@mmhealthscience) [section: “#lasaludnutricionalnoseconfina” (#nutritionalhealthisnotconfined)] ( 3 ) with more than 820 followers. The validity and reliability of this tool used in this study were obtained through the research work published by Mariscal-Arcas ( 3 , 6 , 7 , 11 – 14 ). The age of the subjects who voluntarily participated in the study was between 17 and 65 years, excluding any subject under 17 years of age from the study.…”

“…The dissemination of content on social media presents a series of advantages with respect to the paper format, such as immediate communication and instantaneous assessment of the reactions of readers, and also sharing knowledge of any field reaching more niches of population ( 2 ). That is why this format is chosen with the aim of reaching as many people as possible without biases of age, profession, interest in a particular healthy life, or level of training or special knowledge, only the employment of the social network chosen for the dissemination of #nutritionalhealthisnotconfined ( 3 ).…”

“…For all this, the ultimate goal of “NUTRITIONAL HEALTH IS NOT CONFINED” (#nutritionalhealthisnotconfined) is proposed as a measure to help the population during confinement, where to explain the properties of the foods that make up the MD, some original recipes how to consume them, their health benefits, and even how they can affect our declared mood. Social media and new technologies can be the good tools ( 3 ). Therefore, once the scientific literature has been reviewed, and the insufficiency of studies and the inconsistency of results have been proven, the main objective of this applied research work is to provide the population with information of general interest on the promotion of a healthy diet through social media and analyse the impact of its dissemination, in the form of a longitudinal intervention study of the Spanish nutritional evolution during confinement.…”

“…Therefore, once the scientific literature has been reviewed, and the insufficiency of studies and the inconsistency of results have been proven, the main objective of this applied research work is to provide the population with information of general interest on the promotion of a healthy diet through social media and analyse the impact of its dissemination, in the form of a longitudinal intervention study of the Spanish nutritional evolution during confinement. In a daily survey format, designed and validated by authors ( 3 , 6 , 7 , 11 – 14 ), it is intended to assess food consumption during the quarantine period. Databases and information achieved through this new format of study could be useful to inform the population through social media about forms of healthy eating based on the MD, publicise not so widespread foods or different ways of consuming them and also their benefits in the body, describe possible mood changes during confinement and how to cope with them through diet, explain different aspects related to a healthy life style and physical activity practise, carry out daily surveys to assess the way the population feeds during quarantine and also making an assessment of the declared daily mood and body perception of the participants, and analysing how all of the above is disseminated through something newer than paper format (magazines, newspapers, and television) such as social media and how it this new format impacts the population.…”