Digital Platforms as Effective Health Promotion Tools: An Evidence Check Review

Children consume more than one-third of their total dietary intake at school. Therefore, the school day provides a window of opportunity for improving children’s diet quality. In Australia, about 90% of children bring a lunch box to school from home, prepared by parents or primary caregivers. A sandwich is the most common lunch item in an Australian lunch box, with other common lunch box food items including fruit (fresh or in snack tubs), potato crisps, savoury snack foods, cakes, muffins, biscuits and muesli bars.3 In 2005,a study found more than 90% of children have at least one discretionary food in their lunch box, and more than half have two or more discretionary foods, whereas only 12% have vegetables. Increasing the nutritional value of the food and drinks provided in the school lunch box will support improvements in Australian children’s adherence to dietary guidelines.

Digital platforms have the potential to disseminate information rapidly to a large number of people. The Cancer Council NSW website www.healthylunchbox.com.au is an interactive digital tool that helps parents to increase their child’s fruit and vegetable intake by planning and packing a healthy lunchbox. The website was launched successfully in January 2018 within the Eat It To Beat It Program, showing good engagement with the target audience, parents of school-age children. Cancer Council NSW is exploring the potential of this website as a stand-alone resource. This Evidence Check was commissioned by Cancer Council NSW and aims to identify and summarise current evidence, and associated literature,about similar digital health promotion tools for nutrition education with a focus on parents with children.