Title : Digital platforms and social networks an opportunity to healthy eating promotion or to nutrition dismiss information
Abstract:
Food and nutrition have been identified as the main modifiable risk factors associated with the loss of healthy life years. Additionally, knowledge in nutrition has been described as one of the main determinants of food choices, although it is often associated with myths and misconceptions.
The importance of health literacy is highlighted and the direct effect it has on the individual's health status, since it conditions their ability to make adequate decisions regarding their health, as well as to adopt certain behaviors.
In order to achieve the objective of improving health literacy, it will be necessary to establish alliances between different sectors of society, constituting different partnerships, namely between health and education with the aim of increasing literacy levels in the population.
It will be necessary to bet on more personalized forms of communication and on educational campaigns involving the community and reaching different social and age groups, promoting autonomy and awareness of individuals for decision-making, acting according to the acquired knowledge.
The growing use of digital media represents an innovative way of providing this personalized information, especially among young people. Mobile platforms, health education and literacy and the promotion of healthy eating have had a profound impact today. Information and communication technologies (ICTs), in particular mobile electronic technologies, can be used in surveillance and monitoring, prevention and intervention in health, becoming accessible and relatively easy to use, having been widely adopted by various socioeconomic groups and different age groups.
Digital platforms and social networking applications for these media offer an excellent opportunity to expand the accessibility of health information, promoting literacy and the implementation of health programs, especially among young people, who adhere much more easily to the new technologies.
There is ample scope for exploring new approaches with real-world impact that combine young people's propensity for new technologies with the need to encourage them to change behaviors. The new means of communication, thanks to their interactive nature and the opportunities for sharing experiences and mutual support, have great potential to motivate their users to change health behaviors. Its dynamic nature facilitates the creation of more user-oriented messages, taking into account their personal and cultural background.
The communication of information about food, nutrition and science must be done in a simple, clear way, based on scientific evidence, taking advantage of the potential in digital platforms and social networks, but recognizing their strengths and weaknesses, namely in the dissemination of nutritional misinformation.
