Abstract
BackgroundNews websites are an essential source of medical news for the public. Many websites offer users the opportunity to leave comments, which may provide rich insights into public perspectives on health issues. With an established role in public health, fruit and vegetable (FV) consumption is central to the government’s dietary guidelines. However, FV intake continues to fall short of government recommendations.ObjectiveUsing comments from news websites, this study aims to explore public perspectives on FV intake and related government dietary guidelines.MethodsData comprised 2696 web user comments generated in response to substantial media coverage for a meta-analysis examining FV consumption and the risk of all-cause mortality, cardiovascular disease, and total cancer. Using an inductive thematic approach, the data were analyzed and coded in an iterative process.ResultsFour overarching themes emerged: personal factors, rejection, lack of knowledge, and food landscape, each with component subthemes. The lack of clarity around government dietary health guidelines was apparent, and this, along with emergent personal factors, may hinder better consumption. Rejection was also evident, as was a quality versus quantity of life debate.ConclusionsThere are gaps in the public’s understanding of government guidelines, which may act as a constraint to better compliance. Further work should examine this issue and rejection and the possibility of public fatigue related to dietary health information and news. Similarly, future work should also explore targeted interventions with a specific emphasis on health literacy.
Highlights
At present, mass media is popular and influential in society, with 95% of adults reportedly following the news [1]
With the general public’s increased consumption of web-based news, user comments can provide a unique data set to explore the public perspectives on fruit and vegetable (FV) intake
Aune et al [34] conducted a meta-analysis of 95 studies and found that for all-cause mortality, coronary heart disease, stroke, and cardiovascular disease, the lowest risk was observed with an FV intake of 800 g/day
Summary
Background At present, mass media is popular and influential in society, with 95% of adults reportedly following the news [1]. Web-based media platforms are an influential news source, and 60% of adults (16-34 years) follow the news through internet or mobile apps [1]. This provides an opportunity to explore public perspectives related to public health issues. Web-based comments in response to media-reported medical research and news can act as a rich source of data for documenting public response. Previous studies have analyzed web-based news comments to explore perceptions related to weight loss surgery [3], dietary risks [4], human papillomavirus vaccination [5], and COVID-19 [6]. Many websites offer users the opportunity to leave comments, which may provide rich insights into public perspectives on health issues. FV intake continues to fall short of government recommendations
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