Short Oral Presentation Nutrition Society of Australia 50th Annual Scientific Meeting 2026

Exploring young adults’ experiences of using a web-based personalised healthy eating intervention for rural communities: a qualitative study (146849)

Katherine M Livingstone 1 , Himashini Whitley 2 , Kathleen Dullaghan 1 , Jonathan C Rawstorn 1 , Stephanie R Partridge 3 4 , Yuxin Zhang 1 , Gilly A Hendrie 5 , Lauren C Blekkenhorst 6 , Ralph Maddison 1 , Laura Alston 7 , Stephanie L Godrich 6
  1. Deakin Institute for Physical Activity and Nutrition (IPAN), School of Exercise and Nutrition Sciences, Deakin University, Burwood, VIC 3125, Australia
  2. Deakin University, Burwood, VIC, Australia
  3. Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
  4. Charles Perkins Centre, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
  5. Biosecurity, CSIRO, Adelaide, SA 5000, Australia
  6. Nutrition and Health Innovation Research Institute, School of Medical and Health Sciences, Edith Cowan University, Perth, WA, Australia
  7. Research Unit, Colac Area Health, Colac, VIC 3251, Australia

Web-based interventions, such as apps, can help support healthy eating behaviours in young adults. (1) However, the optimal design of such interventions in rural settings has not been investigated. This study explored young adults’ experiences with using a co-designed, personalised and web-based app intervention (Veg4Me) to increase vegetable intake in rural communities. In total, 116 young adults (18-35 years) from rural Victoria, Australia, participated in the 12-week intervention. (2,3) Participants were randomly allocated to access a personalised (intervention) or non-personalised (control) version of the app. The personalised app included recipes personalised to dietary preferences, a local food environment map, healthy eating resources, a goal setting portal and e-newsletters. The non-personalised app included a list of recipes and food resources. Drawing on open-ended qualitative responses to the 12-week survey from n=69 participants (n=33 intervention and n=36 control) and semi-structured interviews with n=13 additional participants (n=8 intervention and n=5 control), a reflexive thematic analysis of participants’ app and vegetable intake experiences was undertaken. Participants indicated that both control and intervention versions of the app were a valuable prompt for action, providing accessible knowledge and leveraging underlying motivation to advance health eating goals. Participants also emphasised the role of ongoing reminders. Intervention participants highlighted weekly e-newsletters as valuable to maintain engagement, and participants from both groups recommended the addition of accountability and tracking features to support long-term engagement with the intervention. Participants expressed a need for the intervention to address individual preferences, including diverse features and sources of inspiration, the provision of ‘new’ knowledge on healthy eating, and the ability for the app to be personalised. Intervention participants often described Veg4Me feature diversity favourably, particularly in regard to supporting dietary knowledge and that the community-led co-design supported their engagement with the app. Control participants, who did not have access to healthy eating resources, expressed limited satisfaction with the app’s knowledge-building capacity. There was an emphasis on ease of navigation within the app across both groups, which highlighted the importance of accessible and user-friendly app design. While the app was valued as a simple resource that facilitated healthy habits, this analysis also highlighted the tensions created by requiring individual effort and reinforcing individual responsibility for health outcomes. Young adults recommended additional features to improve user experience, such as allowing individuals to further tailor knowledge, monitoring options to maintain habits and alignment with prior technological expectations (e.g. a mobile app). Web-based interventions that specifically target rural communities may also benefit from integrating strategies that go beyond individual responsibility, such as improving access to and/or provision of healthy foods, while concurrently connecting young adults with community level support.

  1. Alston L, Partridge SR. (2021) Nutr Dietetics 78, 57–68
  2. Livingstone KM, Rawstorn JC, Partridge SR (2025) Int J Behav Nutr Physical Activity 22, 97
  3. Livingstone KM, Rawstorn JC, Partridge SR (2024) BMJ Open 14, e078001