Mobile applications have been shown to be an effective and feasible intervention medium for improving healthy food intake in different target groups. As part of the PeRsOnalized nutriTion for hEalthy livINg (PROTEIN) European Union H2020 project, the PROTEIN mobile application was developed as an end-user environment, aiming to facilitate healthier lifestyles through artificial intelligence (AI)-based personalised dietary and physical activity recommendations. Recommendations were generated by an AI advisor for different user groups, combining users’ personal information and preferences with a custom knowledge-based system developed by experts to create personalised, evidence-based nutrition and activity plans. The PROTEIN app was piloted across different user groups in five European countries (Belgium, Germany, Greece, Portugal, and the United Kingdom). Data from the PROTEIN app’s user database (n = 579) and the PROTEIN end-user questionnaire (n = 446) were analysed using the chi-square test of independence to identify associations between personal goals, meal recommendations, and meal adherence among different gender, age, and user groups. The results indicate that weight loss-related goals are more prevalent, as well as more engaging, across all users. Health- and physical activity-related goals are key for increased meal adherence, with further differentiation evident between age and user groups. Congruency between user groups and their respective goals is also important for increased meal adherence. Our study outcomes, and the overall research framework created by the PROTEIN project, can be used to inform the future development of nutrition mobile applications and enable researchers and application designers/developers to better address personalisation for specific user groups, with a focus on user intent, as well as in-app features.

A healthy lifestyle comprising regular physical activity and an adequate diet is imperative for the prevention of non-communicable diseases such as hypertension and some cancers. Advances in information computer technology offer the opportunity to provide personalised lifestyle advice directly to the individual through devices such as smartphones or tablets. The overall aim of the PROTEIN project (Wilson-Barnes et al., 2021) was to develop a smartphone application that could provide tailored and dynamic nutrition and physical activity advice directly to the individual in real time. However, to create this mobile health (m-health) smartphone application, a knowledge base of reference ranges for macro-/micronutrient intake, anthropometry, biochemical, physiological and sleep parameters was required to underpin the parameters of the recommender systems. Therefore, the principal aim of this emerging research paper is to describe the process by which experts in nutrition and physiology from the PROTEIN consortium collaborated to develop the nutritional and physical activity requirements, based upon existing recommendations, for 10 separate population groups living within the EU including, but not limited to healthy adults, adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular disease, excess weight, obesity and iron deficiency anaemia. A secondary aim is to describe the development of a library of 24-h meal plans appropriate for the same groups and also encompassing various dietary preferences and allergies. Overall, the consortium devised an extensive nutrition and physical activity knowledge base that is pertinent to 10 separate EU user groups, is available in 7 different languages and is practically implemented via a library of culturally appropriate, 24-h meal plans.

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Research and public policy interest regarding Sustainable Healthy Diets (SHDs) have increased during the last decades, as nutrition recommendations and diet practices should align with growing environmental concerns. SHDs encompass sociocultural, economic and environmental components of nutrition and health and raising awareness across all these dimensions, as well as providing relevant education, especially to young children, is important for adopting SHD practices. Primary school students (5–12 years old) are often the target population for interventions, as they are considered agents of change for educating the community. The objective of this systematic review is to map the SHD indicators addressed by such interventions in order to identify gaps and opportunities for future interventions in this population. Scopus, PubMed and Web of Science were searched for available publications, following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA 2020) methodology. After screening for eligibility, thirteen intervention studies were included and reviewed. Results showed that indicator definitions and measuring methods were not harmonized across research efforts. Implemented SHD interventions address predominantly food waste and diet quality, while social and economic indicators are underrepresented. The standardization of SHD, focusing on measurable harmonized indicators, should be a priority for policy actors in order to enable impactful research efforts. Future interventions should incorporate clear SHD indicators to raise awareness and consider the application of composite tools or indexes to evaluate outcomes and maximize impact in the community.

1. Cacau LT, De Carli E, de Carvalho AM, et al. Development and Validation of an Index Based on EAT-Lancet Recommendations: The Planetary Health Diet Index. Nutrients. 2021;13(5):1698. doi:10.3390/nu13051698 CrossRef Pubmed Pubmed Central Google Scholar