Young adults' engagement with a self-monitoring app for vegetable intake and the impact of social media and gamification: Feasibility study

Abstract

Background: Social media and gamification have been used in digital interventions for improving nutrition behaviors of young adults, but few studies measure engagement. Objective: This feasibility study aimed to explore user engagement with a 4-week smartphone program for improving vegetable intake. Methods: A goal setting and self-monitoring app was developed for feasibility testing. We assessed if additional components of gaming and/or social media support increased engagement. A 2 × 2 factorial study design was used with participants randomly allocated to each group. Engagement with the app (usage) was captured via inbuilt software, which recorded total days of app usage (duration) and the frequency of logging vegetable intake. Uptake of the social media (Facebook) content was measured by tracking views, likes, and comments on posts. Results: Out of the 110 potential participants who completed the prescreening questionnaire online, 97 were eligible (mean age 24.8 [SD 3.4]). In total, 49% (47/97) of participants were retained at 4 weeks. Attrition within the first week was the highest among users of the gamified app without social support (Facebook; P