JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Adolescence is a critical period for reinforcing healthy dietary behaviours and supporting development of cooking skills. Social media is popular among adolescents and can improve access to nutrition education interventions. Understanding the optimal implementation for effective social media-based nutrition education interventions will inform the implementation of future social media-based nutrition education interventions.

Objective:

A scoping review of the characteristics, feasibility, effectiveness, and factors influencing social media-based nutrition education interventions for adolescents was conducted.

Methods:

MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL, Web of Science, and PsycINFO databases were searched using a predefined search strategy. Primary research articles were independently screened and included if they involved adolescent populations (10 to 18 years old) and delivered nutrition education via social media. Information on intervention characteristics, feasibility, effectiveness, and factors influencing social media-based nutrition education interventions were extracted.

Results:

Twenty-eight publications of 20,557 met eligibility criteria. Twenty-five nutrition interventions were examined by 28 studies. Fourteen interventions used homegrown social media platforms, 8 used Facebook, and 2 used Instagram. Feasibility outcomes were infrequently reported, and cost of intervention delivery was not reported. Engagement with interventions was variable, high engagement was not required to elicit significant improvements in dietary behaviours. Effectiveness findings suggested that social media interventions could improve anthropometric measures such as weight and body mass index and self-reported dietary behaviours. Tailored interventions, offering practical content, peer support, and addressing the role of families and communities facilitated interventions. Strategies to address engagement and technical issues were varied.

Conclusions:

Emerging evidence demonstrates that social media interventions for adolescent nutrition are acceptable and improve nutrition outcomes. Future interventions should strengthen peer support components and tailor delivery to specific populations. Further research should examine engagement and adherence and impact of interventions on behavioural and physical outcomes. This review is the first to examine the use of social media as the primary medium for nutrition education for adolescent populations. The analysis used in this review argues the importance of peer support in social media-based nutrition interventions and the need for user-centred design of the interventions.