Tailored Nutritional Intervention through Digital Technology for Brazilian Adolescents

Authors

  • Giselle Melo MSc
  • Stefany Correa Lima Universidade de Brasilia
  • Raquel Machado Schincaglia Universidade de Brasília
  • Eduardo Yoshio Nakano Universidade de Brasília
  • Natacha Toral Universidade de Brasília

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.14571/brajets.v16.n4.1098-1109

Keywords:

adolescent, Transtheoretical Model, healthy eating, online intervention, nutrition

Abstract

The study aimed to compare the effects of a stage-tailored nutritional intervention to a non-tailored one and a control group, through digital technology, for adolescents. Eight schools were randomly selected, and a total of 347 students (18.04± 0.75 years-old) participated in the study. A WhatsApp-based intervention was implemented in three groups: stage-tailored nutritional educational group, a non-tailored nutritional educational one, and a control group. Daily messages were sent to students for 42 days, one per day. Control group received messages on another theme. Food consumption, stage of change, nutritional knowledge, and self-efficacy for adopting healthy eating behaviors were measured. Wilcoxon test, Kruskal-Wallis rank test, the pair-wise comparison method, and Pearson's chi-square test were performed. Intra-group analyzes revealed the tailored group showed a statistically significant increase in the scores of knowledge and self-efficacy and a decrease in the score of unhealthy eating. Comparing the groups, the stage-tailored intervention showed a significant increase on items of the self-efficacy’ scale. The tailored group seems to be the most suitable format for nutritional interventions via WhatsApp for adolescents.

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Published

2024-03-19

Issue

Vol. 16 No. 4 (2023)

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Copyright (c) 2024 Giselle Melo, Stefany Correa Lima , Raquel Machado Schincaglia , Eduardo Yoshio Nakano, Natacha Toral

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