Technology-Enhanced Health Promotion for College Students: A Seed Development Project.

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Health Promotion
• Digital Health

Background:

• Obesity is a significant health concern for young adults in the U.S.
• College students are particularly susceptible to weight gain during the transition from adolescence to young adulthood.
• There is a need for effective, scalable interventions to promote healthy lifestyles in this demographic.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop, implement, and evaluate a web-based healthy lifestyle intervention for college students.
• To assess the impact of the intervention on students' readiness for behavior change.
• To explore the role of technology in supporting healthy living among young adults.

Main Methods:

• A mixed-method design was employed.
• Two convenience samples of residential university students participated in a 4-week intervention.
• Participants engaged with a comprehensive website focused on healthy lifestyle management.

Main Results:

• Post-intervention readiness for change increased by 15% in eating and life balance behaviors.
• Readiness for change in moving behaviors increased by 23%.
• Participants reported enhanced awareness of eating behaviors and engagement in tracking fruit and vegetable intake.

Conclusions:

• Technology can effectively enhance the efficiency of achieving healthy living goals for college students.
• Preliminary findings support the development and implementation of technological health promotion strategies for young adults.
• Web-based interventions show promise for improving health behaviors in university populations.