MED4Youth web-application

One of the most important and innovative parts of the MED4Youth project is the implementation of a web application to involve adolescents in the nutritional intervention study.

The MED4Youth web application has been developed in 3 languages (Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese), in order to support volunteers from all the countries enrolled in the multicentre study.

Screenshots of different sections of the MED4Youth web application

The educational application has been designed to encourage healthy behaviour in teenagers through a “learning-through-playing” approach, by means of both educational materials and games. In particular, through the app, adolescents have access to 17 weekly topics corresponding to 17 educational units, 119 tips of the day, and 255 quizzes on nutrition & health.

Usability test of the application on a group of teenagers

The application is “funny and easy to use”, said a group of young Italian volunteers who carried out a usability test of the MED4Youth web application. Actually, all volunteers confirmed that they could use the application without any difficulty, performing predefined tasks, such as searching and reading educational contents, completing questionnaires and games, etc.

MED4Youth web-application

Top three most rated characteristics (%) of the MED4Youth web application according to adolescents’ opinion

To each his own: specific contents for each study group

Adolescents in both groups (intervention and control) have access to the educational web-application. Using this app, they are able to learn about healthy lifestyles, nutrition and food in general, proper food choices with a positive impact on health, sustainability issues and the link between health and diet sustainability.

For the Mediterranean Diet intervention group, specific contents are also included, such as an explanation of some of the typical Mediterranean food products used in the study, like pomegranate, hummus, mixed nuts and sourdough bread.

Screenshots of the educational contents and of the quiz game available on the MED4Youth web application (left) and screenshot of a recipe available on the MED4Youth web application (right)

In the MED4Youth project, the web-application serves not only an educational purpose, but also to collect participants’ adherence to the Mediterranean Diet, food habits/consumption and the level of physical activity, thanks to specific questionnaires and a food diary.

The web application is also the tool through which the volunteers receive a personalised 4-month dietary plan, based either on the Mediterranean Diet or on a low-fat diet.

A recipe for every day of the study

The MED4Youth web application has a specific section dedicated to the parents of the volunteers. Parents can consult their child’s dietary plan and specific educational contents for a healthy and sustainable diet. A very important service that the application provides to parents is also the provision of a tasty new recipe every day for the whole family, during the entire duration of the study.

The nutritional aspects of the suggested recipes are also finely integrated with the principles of local gastronomic tradition and seasonality. As a matter of fact, the MED4Youth web application proposes different recipes for each season and country, to facilitate and encourage parents to prepare seasonal and local foods, in full accordance with nutritional recommendations and with environmental care. All these aspects contribute to develop a Mediterranean food culture.


About the author

Human Nutrition Unit – Department of Food and Drug, University of Parma

The University of Parma is one of the oldest universities in the world and promotes knowledge creation, transfer and progress to meet the increasing demand of advanced education and research in our society. The research units involved in the project, led by the Human Nutrition Unit, belong to Department of Food and Drug, the Department of Medicine and Surgery, and the Department of Mathematical, Physical and Computer Sciences.