Effects of Web-Based Self-Reporting: College Students’ Self-Efficacy Regarding Fruit and Vegetable Intake

This study evaluated the effect of an online diet-tracking tool on college students’ self-efficacy regarding fruit and vegetable intake. A convenience sample of students completed online self-efficacy surveys before and after a six-week intervention in which they tracked dietary intake with an online tool. Group one (n=22 fall, n=43 spring) accessed a tracking tool without nutrition tips; group two (n=20 fall, n=33 spring) accessed the tool and weekly nutrition tips. The control group (n=36 fall, n=60 spring) had access to neither. Each semester there were significant changes in self-efficacy from pre- to post-test for men and for women when experimental groups were combined (p<0.05 for all); however, these changes were inconsistent. Qualitative data showed that participants responded well to the simplicity of the tool, the immediacy of feedback, and the customized database containing foods available on campus. Future models should improve user engagement by increasing convenience, potentially by automation

The Effect of Personalized Online Nutritional Analysis on the Diets of College Students: Team Research Proposal Draft

Gemstone Team DIET (Dietary Information and Evaluation Technologies)Obesity in the United States is often referred to as an epidemic, and countless nutrition intervention studies have been done to examine possible preventative measures. Most of these studies involve self-reporting by participants, and many suggest that the best age to target eating habits is college since these students are just beginning to live on their own. We seek to examine how a nutritional intervention without self-reporting will affect the eating habits of our student participants by developing and implementing an interactive diet tracking tool in the form of a website. The website will use the student ID swipe system in the diner to record individual food purchases, and report the healthfulness of the student’s choices on a daily basis. We hope to find that our research will contribute to the literature of the field through testing the impact of a new type of intervention on a fairly unexplored demographic