Promoting Healthy Eating Habits for the Youths through Social Media in Japan and Sweden

2023 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 17K12549
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Community health nursing
• Research Institution: Toho University (2018-2023); Tokyo Women's Medical University (2017)
• Principal Investigator: Watanabe-Ito Masako 東邦大学, 看護学部, 助教 (90405613)
• Project Period (FY): 2017-04-01 – 2024-03-31
• Keywords: 食生活 / 大学生 / 健康教育 / スマートフォン / ソーシャルメディア

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The aim of this study was to evaluate the potential effectiveness of social media interactions with the use of dietary diaries on a smartphone app to motivate college students in Japan and Sweden for raising self-awareness of their eating habits.
Forty college students in Japan participated in the first study by creating dietary diaries online through a smartphone app and then followed/interacted with each other using social media for 7 consecutive days. Their interest and self evaluation for eating were significantly changed after joining this research project. All participants welcomed communication with fellow participants on social media and motivated each other.
The second survey was conducted with middle-aged and elderly local residents as the target group, the trends in eating habits interest points and eating habits self-evaluation scores were similar to those of university students, but it was clear that there were technical issues when using smartphone apps.

Free Research Field

公衆衛生看護学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

わが国における生活習慣病予備群は年々若年化しており、若い世代からのライフスタイルの改善は緊急の課題である。青年期は生涯の健康づくりの基礎となる食生活の態度、知識、技術を身につける時期である一方、効果的な健康教育が難しい時期であり、対象者が主体的に自己の食生活を振り返り、改善意欲を高める支援方法の開発が課題となっている。本研究において、スマートフォンアプリおよびソーシャルメディアを活用した食生活改善に向けた取り組みが地域住民に広く有効であり、加えて特に若い世代にとって身近な方法であることが明らかになったことは、Mobile Healthを推進する公衆衛生学的な視座から社会的意義があると言える。