FoodPAD: development of a new application-based tool to coach children towards consuming a healthier and more sustainable diet

The prevalence of childhood obesity is increasing at an alarming rate. At the same time, climate change poses serious challenges to our environment. Both problems can be addressed by changes in dietary behavior; however, current ‘one-size-fits-all’ interventions have shown limited effectiveness. In addition, while technology-based methods provide an opportunity to promote personalized dietary coaching, their application in children have been limited. This is due to a lack of: 1) user-appropriate and accurate dietary assessment tools, 2) tailoring to the individual, and 3) focus on long-term engagement. Therefore, we will develop FoodPAD: an application-based digital tool to promote healthier and more sustainable diets in 8- to 10-year-old children. First, we will conduct formative research consisting of literature reviews, interviews with end-users, and focus groups with relevant stakeholders to map the context of use, needs, preferences, perspectives, experiences, and design requirements for dietary assessment and coaching. Concurrently, co-creation sessions to design user-centered tool-features will be conducted. Secondly, we will iteratively develop a tool to assess current dietary intake and coach children towards an improved diet. Thirdly, FoodPAD’s accuracy in assessing dietary intake will be evaluated by comparing it to a parental interview-administered 24-h recall and direct lunch observation. Acceptability and usability data will also be collected. Lastly, we will write an implementation plan for FoodPAD into clinical practice. All in all, since FoodPAD has the potential to effectively modify diets, we believe it will contribute to the prevention of childhood obesity and protection of our planetary boundaries.