THE ESSENTIAL
- Young adults with relatively large body mass were more likely to increase their fruit intake through the nutrition app.
- Promoting healthy eating through appropriate apps can make users think regarding their eating habits.
It’s important to make young people aware of the adoption of a healthy diet! This was recalled by researchers from the University of Hong Kong Institute of Education in China. In a study published in the journal Nutrients, they indicated that food education contributed to the acquisition of good eating habits. Clearly, young adults, who are knowledgeable regarding balanced diets and their effects on health, are more likely to increase their consumption of fruits and vegetables and decrease their consumption of sugar and processed foods. Thus, they are more likely to stay healthy.
To reach this conclusion, Chinese scientists examined the effectiveness of a nutrition application, called “eDietary Portal”, on young adults’ nutritional knowledge and eating habits. The participants, 305 people aged 19 to 31, all attended a three-hour seminar on nutrition. Half of the volunteers also had the right to a 12-week food follow-up on the application.
Better knowledge and good eating behavior
According to the results, all the participants improved their knowledge of nutrition thanks to the seminar. But the use of the application has encouraged thinking regarding food and pushed users to opt for healthy foods, which can reduce health problems and the risk of disease.
“The mean differences in sugar intake, dietary fiber intake and vitamin C intake for the experimental group were significantly higher than those of the control group. In addition, the experimental group increased their consumption fruits and vegetables significantly compared to the control group”, can we read in the works.