Social Media and Nutrition Education: The Food Hero Experience

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In 2009, a team made up of dietitians and other health care practitioners decided that something needed to be done about the lack of fruit and vegetable consumption in Oregon. At the time, only 26% of Oregonians were consuming over the recommended 5 or more servings of fruits and vegetables per day. A needs assessment was done and it was found that "participants valued recipes and cooking information and used online resources to get this information". Using this information, the Food Hero Initiative was formed. They developed different tips and tools to make healthy eating a more accessible goal. The Food Hero team realized that they needed to figure out which social media site would best reach their clientele (people with limited incomes), and for this purpose the found that Facebook would work best. They also discovered that followers dropped off if too many posts were logged in too short a time, so they began posting one post per day. They also made sure to track data once the site was up and running to make sure they stay relevant.
I think that this article gives a great outline to anyone in the community nutrition field that wants to make a difference in a specific area. It can be used as an outline to make changes in a variety of situations, not just an increase in fruits and vegetables.

Tobey, L., & Manore, M. (2014). Social Media and Nutrition Education: The Food Hero Experience. Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, 128-133.

 -JR

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