Department of Nutrition, School of Health and Human Sciences, University of North Carolina Greensboro, Greensboro, NC 27412, USA.
Department of Dietetics and Human Nutrition, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40506, USA.
Nutrients. 2022 Mar 31;14(7):1458. doi: 10.3390/nu14071458.
Approximately 17% of military service members are obese. Research involving army soldiers suggests a lack of awareness of healthy foods on post. Innovative approaches are needed to change interactions with the military food environment. Two complementary technological methods to raise awareness are geofencing (deliver banner ads with website links) and Bluetooth beacons (real-time geotargeted messages to mobile phones that enter a designated space). There is little published literature regarding the feasibility of this approach to promote healthy behaviors in retail food environments. Thus, we conducted a formative feasibility study of a military post to understand the development, interest in, and implementation of EatWellNow, a multi-layered interactive food environment approach using contextual messaging to improve food purchasing decisions within the military food environment. We measured success based on outcomes of a formative evaluation, including process, resources, management, and scientific assessment. We also report data on interest in the approach from a Fort Bragg community health assessment survey ( = 3281). Most respondents agreed that they were interested in receiving push notifications on their phone about healthy options on post (64.5%) and that receiving these messages would help them eat healthier (68.3%). EatWellNow was successfully developed through cross-sector collaboration and was well received in this military environment, suggesting feasibility in this setting. Future work should examine the impact of EatWellNow on military service food purchases and dietary behaviors.
约有 17%的军人肥胖。涉及陆军士兵的研究表明，军营中人们对健康食品的意识不足。需要采取创新方法来改变与军队食物环境的互动。提高意识的两种互补技术方法是地理围栏（通过网站链接投放横幅广告）和蓝牙信标（实时向进入指定空间的手机发送实时地理定位消息）。关于这种通过零售食物环境促进健康行为的方法的可行性，发表的文献很少。因此，我们在一个军事基地进行了一项形成性可行性研究，以了解 EatWellNow 的开发、兴趣和实施情况，EatWellNow 是一种多层次的互动食物环境方法，使用情境信息来改善军队食物环境中的食物购买决策。我们根据形成性评估的结果来衡量成功，包括过程、资源、管理和科学评估。我们还报告了来自布拉格堡社区健康评估调查的数据（n=3281），即人们对这种方法的兴趣。大多数受访者都表示，他们有兴趣在手机上收到关于军营中健康选择的推送通知（64.5%），并且认为收到这些信息将帮助他们吃得更健康（68.3%）。EatWellNow 通过跨部门合作成功开发，并在这种军事环境中得到很好的接受，表明在这种环境下具有可行性。未来的工作应该研究 EatWellNow 对军人食物购买和饮食行为的影响。
