Can Parental Engagement in Social Media Enhance Outcomes of an Online Healthy Lifestyle Program for Preschool-Aged Children?

Online reach and engagement of a child nutrition peer-education program (PICNIC): insights from social media and web analytics

BACKGROUND

Parents frequently seek parental advice online and on social media; thus, these channels should be better utilized in child health interventions. The Parents in Child Nutrition Informing Community (PICNIC) program aims to facilitate peer-to-peer sharing of evidence-based child feeding information and support parents within their social networks. The present study aimed to explore web and social media analytics to evaluate reach and user engagement with the PICNIC online components.

METHODS

Online user activity data from the PICNIC Facebook closed group and public Page were collected through Facebook Insights, and program-specific website traffic data through Google Analytics. Analytics data from Nov-2019 to April-2021 was evaluated through visualisation and summary statistics to obtain insights into program growth and current reach in Australia, compare demographics of audience reached through the online channels, and explore parents' use and engagement in PICNIC content.

RESULTS

Results showed steady program growth in the 18 months of recruitment; participant numbers grew from 102 to 261 peer educators while the Facebook Page audience increased threefold, totalling 1615 followers. Intervention posts shared on Facebook (4-5 posts/week) typically reached only a portion of PICNIC Page followers each week, but also reached a wider audience through their friends. Throughout the evaluated period, Facebook users actively engaged in PICNIC posts, although the level of engagement varied considerably from post to post. Furthermore, results from this study suggest the strategy of directing potentially interested parents from social media to the website for program sign-up was successful. Finally, the explored data gave insights into users' availability, demographics and engagement, which will be used to inform refinement of the PICNIC website and social media strategies.

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings confirm the benefits of using a peer education approach and existing social network channels to disseminate evidence-based child feeding information to parents. This study also demonstrates the usefulness of web and social media analytics to be used as part of a continuous evaluation for gaining insight to inform further development and improvement of program strategies.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

The PICNIC project was retrospectively submitted for registration with the Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (ANZCTR), ACTRN12622000230752 (09/02/2022).

Recipe Components and Parents' Infant and Young Child Feeding Concerns: A Mixed-Methods Study of Recipe Posts Shared in Thai Facebook Groups for Parents

Social media is increasingly becoming a significant source of information for parents, including about feeding young children. However, little attention has been given to the characteristics of recipes for infants and young children and how they interact with parental perceptions regarding food decisions shared by users on social media. Building on findings related to shared recipe components and parental food choices, between December 2019 and July 2020, this study retrospectively collected 80 shared recipes each from five Thai Facebook groups. This extraction created 379 shared recipes with 1751 peers’ commentaries on the shared recipes’ posts. The shared recipes were classified and components quantified across child age groups, then the textual contents around the reasons behind the food choices were described qualitatively. The results showed that there were differences in meal types, food ingredients, and seasoning used across child age groups. Further analysis found that food allergy awareness was one driving concern behind parental perceptions on food choices in children’s diets. These concerns resulted in delays in the introduction of animal-source foods. Moreover, peers’ commentaries on shared recipes offered a venue for exchanging experiences with food products. Because of the potential influence on parental beliefs and perceptions, further studies are required to understand the impact of existing online communities on actual feeding practices.