Table 2 Summary of the features of digital interventions grouped according to effectiveness
From: Digital behaviour change interventions to increase vegetable intake in adults: a systematic review
Author and year | Control | Intervention features | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Intervention | NOURISHING policy domain and policy area | Digital tool | Co-designa | Behaviour change theory | Personalisation | ||
Effective | |||||||
Bhurosy 2020 [35] | Self-monitoring of diet | Self-monitoring of diet, including red/orange vegetable intake, set a goal to eat 1 more, take pictures of serves | Domain: BCC Policy: nutrition education and skills | App | Assigned goal setting | ||
Cantisano 2022 [56] | ePSICONUT programme – eHealth tools (Headspace, Insight Timer, Fabulous, YouTube channel, WhatsApp, e-mail, and Excel sheets to perform tasks/activities) | Domain: BCC Policy: nutrition education and skills | App, SMS messages, videos, email, Excel | Not true co-design: researchers and health professionals | Goal setting | ||
Chan 2020 [38] | Generalised dietary and PA advice | TrueNTH Community of Wellness—educational material, links to resources, self-monitoring diet and PA | Domain: BCC Policy: nutrition education and skills; nutrition advice and counselling | Website, Fitbit, SMS messages, phone calls | Social cognitive theory, goal setting | Diet and PA advice, videos and reports, exercise trainer and dietitian, dashboard | |
Gilson 2017 [42] | Jawbone UP™—financial incentives program. Education materials and self-monitoring PA and healthy dietary choices, and financial incentives for changing behaviours | Domains: BCC; food environment Policies: nutrition education and skills; economic tools to address affordability and purchase incentives | App, activity tracker | Goal setting | Support and feedback from researchers on goals | ||
Hansel 2017 [44] | Generalised dietary advice | ANODE—dietetic tool providing menus, shopping list, recipes, PA prescribed | Domain: BCC Policy: nutrition education and skills; nutrition advice and counselling | Website | Menus, shopping list based on preferences, tastes, calories, needs | ||
Hendrie 2020 [58] | VegEze – motivation and education to increase intake and variety, self-monitoring, gamification, > 50 recipes and meal suggestions | Domain: BCC Policy: nutrition education and skills | App | Not true co-design: dietitians, researchers, product developers, software engineers, adults (25–45 y) | Behaviour change wheel; motivation, goal setting, self-monitoring, social comparison, gamification | Feedback and motivational messages for meeting goals | |
Plaete 2015 [60] | Generalised information | MyPlan 1.0—motivation and education to improve behaviour (group 1 and 2 were recruited by GPs and researchers respectively) | Domain: BCC Policy: nutrition education and skills | Website | Not true co-design: researchers, general practitioners | Self-regulation, health action process, goal setting | Feedback on health behaviours, action plan |
Wang 2021 [54] | Health education | WeChat—health education, self-monitoring, reminders, diet, sport advice and supervision | Domain: BCC Policy: nutrition education and skills | App | Trans-theoretical Model | Dietitians, sports coach advice, health reports | |
Wang 2020 [55] | Text messages on general health information | Text messages covering health awareness, diet control, PA, living habits, weight control | Domain: BCC Policy: nutrition education and skills; nutrition advice and counselling | SMS messages | Not true co-design: endocrinology, chronic disease, health education, disease prevention experts | Trans-theoretical Model | |
Ineffective | |||||||
Abu-Saad 2019 [33] | Standard lifestyle counselling | Interactive Lifestyle Assessment, Counselling, and Education (I-ACE)—self-monitoring of dietary intake and PA, dietitian-delivered lifestyle education and advice | Domain: Behaviour Change Communication (BCC) Policy: nutrition education and skills; nutrition advice and counselling | App | Not true co-design: adults, dietitians | Motivational interviewing, goal setting | Clinical counselling to improve diet based on diet, ethnicity, culture, age, health status |
Alonso-Dominguez 2019 [34] | Generalised dietary and PA advice | EVIDENT II—self-monitoring diet and PA, in-person food/cooking workshops, walks | Domain: BCC Policy: nutrition education and skills; nutrition advice and counselling | App | Not true co-design: software engineers, dietitians, PA experts | Diet and PA advice based on diet, PA, age, sex, weight, height, stride | |
Bozorgi 2021 [36] | Usual care | Education and support information on disease management, healthy diet (DASH and low-salt diet), weight loss and motivational messages | Domain: BCC Policy: nutrition education and skills; nutrition advice and counselling | App | Messages based on patient characteristics | ||
Brown 2014 [37] | Brochure containing same information | Mobile MyPlate—behavior-directed motivational text messages on the US Dietary Guidelines and messages of the My-Plate icon | Domain: BCC Policy: nutrition education and skills | App, SMS messaging | Not true co-design: nutrition and health societies, industry, department of agriculture and health and human services | Goal setting | |
Celis-Morales 2016 [57] | Generalised dietary advice | Food4Me—self-monitoring of diet and PA, three levels of feedback report: Level 1: based on diet data; Level 2: based on diet and phenotype data; Level 2: based on diet, phenotype and genotype data | Domain: BCC Policy: nutrition education and skills; nutrition advice and counselling | Website, internet forum, accelerometer | Behaviour change wheel; motivation, self-monitoring, assigned goal setting | Diet advice based on diet, phenotype (anthropometric; blood biomarkers) and/or genotype (5 nutrient-responsive genes) | |
Debon 2020 [39] | Health education workshops | Health education workshops. Self-monitoring of physical measurements, (e.g. blood pressure, anthropometrics, sleep, mood, PA). Recommendations based on reference values. Alerts and reminders | Domain: BCC Policy: nutrition education and skills; nutrition advice and counselling | App | Goal setting | Advice based on reference values, dashboard summary of health conditions | |
Elbert 2016 [40] | No health information | Text- or audio-based tailored health information, recipes, testimonials | Domain: BCC Policy: nutrition education and skills | App | Social cognitive theory, goal setting | Action plan, testimonial matching, advice based on current diet, barriers to fruit and vegetable intake and health | |
Fjeldsoe 2019 [41] | Brief written feedback | Get Healthy, Stay Healthy (GHSH)—extended contact intervention with text messages and phone calls with coach | Domain: BCC Policy: nutrition education and skills | SMS messages | Goal setting | Diet and PA goals, frequency of goals and texts, phone coaching | |
Goni 2020 [43] | Usual clinical care | PREDIMAR—nutrition education on the Mediterranean diet, self-monitoring of diet, recipes | Domain: BCC Policy: nutrition education and skills; nutrition advice and counselling | Website, app, printed resources, phone calls, cooking videos, testimonials | Not true co-design: dietitians, nutritionists, epidemiologists, doctors, chefs, programmers | Dietary advice by a dietitian | |
Hebden 2014 [45] | Booklet from dietitian | Booklet, text messages, emails, app and forums, recipes, self-monitoring diet and PA | Domain: BCC Policy: nutrition education and skills | SMS messages, e-mails, app, Internet forums | Transtheoretical model | Motivational advice and instantaneous diet and PA feedback based on guidelines, dietitian access | |
Jahan 2020 [46] | Brochure on health education | Health education on DASH, PA, generalised text messages on recommendations | Domain: BCC Policy: nutrition education and skills; nutrition advice and counselling | SMS messages | |||
Kerr 2016 [52] | Self-monitoring without feedback | Connecting Health and Technology (CHAT)—text messages, self-monitoring and feedback on diet using images, web links and recipes | Domain: BCC Policy: nutrition education and skills | SMS messaging, app | Not true co-design: young adults (18–30 y) | Self-determination | Feedback based on diet, name |
Lara 2016 [47] | Usual care | Living, Eating, Activity and Planning through retirement (LEAP)—information on healthy eating (Mediterranean diet), recipes, PA, social roles, self-monitoring | Domain: BCC Policy: nutrition education and skills | Website | True co-design: researchers, adults (> 55 y), health social care professionals | Health action process, goal setting | Content based on demographics, diet and goals, dashboard summary |
Lombard 2016 [48] | Generalised health session | HeLP-her—self-management education manual, group session, phone coaching, text messages | Domain: BCC Policy: nutrition education and skills | SMS messages, phone coaching | Self-determination, cognitive behavioural, motivational interviewing, goal setting | Diet and PA goals and action plan, by name, coaching | |
Perez-Junkura 2022 [59] | GlutenFreeDiet platform—dietary evaluation, which allows dietitians to measure energy content and nutrient distribution | Domain: BCC Policy: nutrition education and skills; nutrition advice and counselling | Website, app counselling | Feedback based on diet | |||
Pope 2019 [49] | Identical, Facebook | Facebook group, self-monitoring diet and PA with smartwatch | Domain: BCC Policy: nutrition education and skills | App, smartwatch | Social cognitive, self-determination | ||
Recio-Redruguez 2016 [50] | Generalised information | Diet and PA counselling, leaflet, self-monitoring diet and PA | Domain: BCC Policy: nutrition education and skills | App, counselling | Not true co-design: dietitians, PA experts, software engineers | Feedback and plan based on diet and PA | |
Schulz 2014 [51] | Health risk appraisal | MyHealthyBehavior—health risk appraisal, feedback to improve diet, alcohol, PA, smoking (sequentially or simultaneously) | Domain: BCC Policy: nutrition education and skills | Website | Feedback based on diet, PA, smoking, by name | ||
Turner-McGrievy 2013 [53] | Podcast | Podcast, self-monitoring diet and PA, social support | Domain: BCC Policy: nutrition education and skills | Podcast, app | Social cognitive theory, goal setting | ||
Williams 2022 [61] | Static text-based messages and letter from GP | Diabetes Online Risk Assessment (DORA) study—video-based story (80–144 s in duration), links to reputable healthy lifestyle resources (e.g. Nutrition Australia) | Domain: BCC Policy: nutrition education and skills; nutrition advice and counselling | Website, video, SMS messages | Health belief model | Video based on individual T2DM risk factors, gender, and age | |
Zenun Franco 2022 [62] | Generalised dietary advice via the eNutri web app | EatWellUK study—personalised dietary advice via the eNutri web app | Domain: BCC Policy: nutrition advice and counselling | App | Not true co-design: adults (18 y and over), nutrition professionals | Dietary advice based on current diet | |