Abstract
Objective
This study investigated the use of Facebook to deliver health-related education materials
to augment a preschool classroom-based obesity prevention curriculum.
Design
Cross-sectional, mixed methods (descriptive and interviews).
Setting
Head Start classrooms administered by 2 large agencies (1 rural and 1 urban).
Participants
Convenience sample of parents in 13 classrooms (cohort 1, 3 classrooms; cohort 2,
10 classrooms).
Intervention
Delivery of nutrition education curriculum content using social media (Facebook).
Variables Measured
Qualitative interviews assessed barriers and facilitators to Facebook use. Parent
views, likes, and comments were measured to reflect parent engagement with Facebook.
Analysis
Content analyses (qualitative data) and descriptive statistics (quantitative data).
Results
Family access (views) and interaction (comments and likes) with the posts varied based
on type and content of posts. Rural families were more active. Barriers to parental
Facebook engagement included a desire to see more posts from classroom teachers, lack
of time, and misunderstanding about privacy protections. Facilitators of parental
Facebook engagement included perceived utility of the content and social support.
Conclusions and Implications
Facebook was found to be a feasible platform to provide nutrition education and facilitated
varying levels of parental engagement. Lessons learned and implications for prevention
and intervention programming are offered.
Key Words
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Article info
Publication history
Accepted:
May 5,
2017
Footnotes
Conflict of Interest Disclosure: The authors' conflict of interest disclosures can be found online with this article on www.jneb.org.
Identification
Copyright
©2017 Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior. Published by Elsevier, Inc. All rights reserved.
