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Objective
Development and evaluation of the educational intervention "Užina za 5!" using social media to influence healthier choices of beverages and snacks.
Use of Theory or Research
In adolescence, autonomy in snack choices increases. It is necessary to create educational interventions that promote healthier choices which could be via social media, as they have become an indispensable part of adolescents' lives. The DESIGN procedure is a scientific-based framework that was used to create the educational intervention based on the knowledge-attitude-behavior model and social cognitive theory.
Target Audience
High school students (15-19 years old).
Program Description
At one high school in Osijek, 3 classes (n = 49) were randomly selected to participate in an intervention designed as a 2-week challenge (20 posts) in private Facebook groups. The other 3 classes (n = 44) participated in a school-based intervention consisting of two lectures (45 minutes) two weeks apart. Both types of educational interventions in which adolescents learned about the principles of healthy eating and food traffic light label were designed and delivered by a nutritionist.
Evaluation Methods
To evaluate the effectiveness of the digital intervention, the results of the pre/post online nutrition knowledge questionnaire and the results of the quantitative beverage and snack food frequency questionnaire for adolescents were compared with the results of the school-based intervention using two-way ANOVA with replication.
Result
s: Although both interventions increased nutrition knowledge, the school-based intervention had the greater effect (Δ1.5 vs. Δ0.8; P = 0.014). The ratio of healthy beverages (Δ1% and Δ3%; P = 0.08) and food (Δ-4% and Δ-2%; P = 0.57) did not differ after the interventions, but both interventions significantly reduced frequency and quantity of adolescents' healthier and unhealthier food and beverages consumed as snacks.
Conclusions
Social media showed potential in nutrition education for adolescents. Future research should focus on other social media and longer intervention duration to assess whether they can supplement or replace school-based interventions.
Funding
None.
Article info
Identification
Copyright
© 2022 Published by Elsevier Inc.
