Background: Although digital tools for healthy nutrition have shown great potential, their actual impact remains variable as digital solutions often do not fit users' needs and barriers. This is especially poignant for priority communities in society. Involving these groups in citizen science may have great benefits even beyond the increase in knowledge of the lives and experiences of these groups. However, this requires specialized skills. Participants from priority groups could benefit from an approach that offers sensitization and discussion to help them voice their needs regarding healthy nutrition and technology to support healthy eating.
Objective: This study aimed to gather insights into people's thoughts on everyday eating practices, self-regulation in healthy eating, and skill acquisition and on applying technological innovations to these domains.
Methods: Participants answered 3 daily questionnaires to garner their current practices regarding habits, self-regulation, skills, and technology use surrounding healthy eating and make it easier for them to collect their thoughts and experiences (sensitization). Within a week of filling out the 3 questionnaires, participants took part in a web-based focus group discussion session. All sessions were transcribed and analyzed using a thematic qualitative approach.
Results: A total of 42 people took part in 7 focus group interviews of 6 people each. The analysis showed that participants would like to receive support from technology for a broad range of aspects of nutrition, such as measuring the effect their personal nutrition has on their individual health, providing them with reliable product information, giving them practical guidance for healthy eating and snacking, and reducing the burden of registering food intake. Technology should be easy to use, reduce burdens, and be tailored to personal situations. Privacy and cost were major concerns for the participants.
Conclusions: This study shows that people from low- and medium-socioeconomic-status groups have a need for specific support in tailoring their knowledge of healthy nutrition to their own situation and see technology as a means to achieve this.
Keywords: citizen science; digital technology; nutrition; socioeconomic status.
©Sander Hermsen, Alex van Kraaij, Guido Camps. Originally published in JMIR Human Factors (https://humanfactors.jmir.org), 02.12.2022.