O02 Social Media Nutrition Education Integrated With a Home Food Delivery Assistance for Low-income Pregnant Women: A Pilot Study

Abstract

<h3>Background</h3> Poor diet quality during pregnancy is associated with adverse health outcomes. As a remote nutrition intervention may benefit pregnant women, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, we adapted the Cooking Matters curriculum that uses the social cognitive theory and converted it to a social media intervention integrated with healthy pregnancy and food assistance components. <h3>Objective</h3> To examine the feasibility and preliminary effects of a nutrition education intervention implemented through a social media platform for low-income pregnant women. <h3>Study Design, Setting, Participants</h3> One-group pretest/posttest study. A 6-week nutrition intervention was implemented through a private Facebook group. Cooking ingredients were home-delivered every week by the local food bank. Pregnant women living in low-income neighborhoods of the Hillsborough County, FL who were in their first or second trimester participated in the study (n = 27). <h3>Measurable Outcome/Analysis</h3> Mixed-methods were utilized. Participant engagement was measured weekly with the number of ‘likes' on Facebook posts, goal setting, and engagement questions. Outcomes were measured with validated Food Behavior Checklist, and the Perceptions of Meal Planning and Cooking questionnaires. At post-intervention, qualitative semi-structured interviews were conducted. Descriptive statistics and t-tests were used for quantitative data and emergent themes were analyzed for qualitative data. <h3>Results</h3> Cooking demo videos received most frequent ‘likes'. Participants significantly decreased sweetened beverage intake (<i>P =</i> 0.035); increased using food labels (<i>P =</i> 0.046); and improved overall eating habits (<i>P =</i> 0.015) after the intervention. Perceptions of meal planning (<i>P =</i> 0.023) and shopping and cooking (<i>P =</i> 0.018) were significantly improved. Sixteen emergent themes under 6 broad categories were identified from the qualitative data. Participants indicated that they enjoyed the intervention and reported meaningful behavior changes. They wanted the program to be longer as it would have provided them the opportunity to continue their behavior changes. <h3>Conclusions</h3> Findings indicate that a social media can be a useful tool to remotely implement evidence-based nutrition education interventions for pregnant women in low-income neighborhoods. Further research with a longer intervention duration is warranted to sustain behavioral changes. <h3>Funding</h3> Humana; Feeding Tampa Bay.