Promoting healthy dietary behaviour through personalised nutrition: technology push or technology pull?

Area of Science:

• Nutritional Science
• Genomics
• Public Health

Background:

• Traditional public health campaigns using generic healthy eating messages have shown minimal long-term effectiveness in changing eating behaviors.
• Emerging evidence suggests that personalized nutrition interventions, particularly those delivered online, can effectively promote healthy dietary changes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To synthesize qualitative and quantitative research on public perceptions of genomics, nutrigenomics, and personalized nutrition.
• To identify public attitudes and concerns regarding personalized nutrition services, including data security.

Main Methods:

• Review of qualitative and quantitative studies on public perspectives of nutrigenomics and personalized nutrition.
• Inclusion of data from the EU-funded Food4Me project.

Main Results:

• The public generally holds favorable views towards nutrigenomics and personalized nutrition.
• Significant public reservations exist regarding the secure handling of personal health data by service providers.

Conclusions:

• Technological advancements have propelled personalized nutrition, but a critical need exists for enhanced data privacy and security in online delivery systems.
• Future development must prioritize robust data protection measures to build public trust and facilitate the widespread adoption of personalized nutrition therapies.