Monash research to improve diet and reduce obesity risk among young adults

Associate Professor Cate Lombard

Using social marketing and media strategies to reduce the risk of obesity in young adults is the aim of a research project in the Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, thanks to a successful National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) grant worth nearly $1 million.

The $950,000 grant was awarded to lead researcher Associate Professor Cate Lombard and her team for their project 'Communication health: optimising engagement and retention using social media', to motivate and engage young adults in health interventions.

“We need to learn how to engage 18-24 year olds in health-related behaviour and our project will draw on research about current marketing techniques while applying successful strategies to health messages,” said Associate Professor Lombard. 

“We will use novel online ethnographic and segmentation methodologies to understand how and why social media motivates, engages and retains young adults in obesity prevention interventions.”

Young adults aged 18-24 years are engaging with social media daily to stay connected, obtain information, communicate and support peers, with 89% of 18-29 year olds using Facebook.

“Original internet websites allowed only one-way communication through static web pages, however, new web-based internet (Web 2.0) facilitates a two-way communication through sharing or creating information,” said Associate Professor Lombard.

“These new applications including social media platforms are potentially a valuable tool to increase reach, effectiveness and impact of health interventions.”

Weight gain in young adults is driven by modifiable health behaviours, particularly eating behaviours.

Associate Professor Lombard said that young adults are less likely to meet fruit and vegetable targets, and more likely to consume sweetened drinks than other age groups.

“The challenge is how health information can successfully compete in a market saturated with unhealthy messages.”

The outcome of this research is practical insights and applications for targeting healthy eating messages to specific segments of the target population.

Associate Professor Lombard’s research team include Head, Department of Nutrition and Dietetic Professor Helen Truby, Dr Claire Palermo and Dr Tracy McCaffrey.

In further grant success, Professor Truby was awarded another NHMRC grant with colleagues from Newcastle University to examine online interventions targeting healthy eating in young adults.

“Our collaborative project will compare the efficacy and cost-effectiveness of three online interventions targeting healthy eating in young adults aged 18 to 24 years over one year,” said Professor Truby.

Professor Truby said the research team aims to increase access to personalised information and advice about usual dietary intakes; effective engagement strategies for healthy eating program; and cost.

“This was a very competitive round of NHMRC grants with a 16% success rate, so we are delighted to receive two of the five grants awarded," said Professor Truby.