Purpose:To investigate potential dietary changes among Southeast Asian international students living in self-catered accommodation while studying abroad and to consider implications for their health.Design:Participants were interviewed about their food preferences and behaviours in their home countries and during their undergraduate studies at the Australian National University.Setting:A university in AustraliaParticipants:Study participants were full-time undergraduate students over 18 years of age from Southeast Asian countries studying at the Australian National University for at least one year, and living at self-catered accommodation.Methods:Thirty-one, in-depth, face-to-face qualitative interviews concerning usual diets were collected over a three month period in 2013. Interviews were coded and analysed with the aid of a computer program Atlas.ti.Results:The macro-nutrient content of Southeast Asian international students’ diets did not change a great deal when they moved to Australia. Most students replaced some preferred foods on occasions because they either could not afford them, they were not available or they lacked time to prepare them. These dietary changes were not necessarily reflected in changes to students’ weights and most students considered that they were as healthy as when they lived at home.Conclusion:As students’ adapt to a new food environment they reflexively manage potential health risks. Strong student networks and an accessible and healthy food environment would support students to make healthy dietary choices although additional information about healthy diets could facilitate this further.

Background Effective prevention at a young enough age is critical to halt the obesity epidemic. Mobile health (mHealth) apps would potentially reach large numbers at low-cost. While there is already a profusion of lifestyle apps, they are mostly non-evidence-based and evidently ineffective against rising obesity prevalence. Objective The aim of this study was to explore preferences and usage of lifestyle apps among young people in 6 countries. Methods A mixed methods study was conducted among young people aged 13 to 24 years residing in the United Kingdom, Belgium, Finland, Greece, Singapore, and New Zealand. Participants were recruited from Web advertisements on Facebook, asking for volunteers interested in mobile apps in general, not specific to lifestyle or health, to complete a short survey comprising 18 questions on demographics, weight gain, and mobile app preferences and then to join English-language online focus groups, which were held during 2017, in password-protected Web rooms, moderated by an experienced researcher. Descriptive statistics were carried out for the survey, and thematic analysis was applied to transcripts. Results A total of 2285 young people (610 adolescents aged 13-17 years and 1675 young adults aged 18-24 years) responded and completed the survey, with 72.0% (1645) reported being concerned about weight gain for themselves or friends. Later, 807 young people (376 adolescents and 431 young adults) were selected based on age and country to participate in 12 online focus groups, with 719 young people completing. Analysis revealed 4 main themes: (1) feelings toward personal weight; (2) perception of lifestyle apps and desired content for weight gain prevention; (3) social media apps, lifestyle apps, and motivation for downloading and retaining; and (4) data safety and data usage and confidentiality. Young people are interested in evidence-based advice in programs incorporating their preferences. Conclusions Young people are commonly, and consistently across 6 countries, concerned about weight gain and obesity and would welcome evidence-based mHealth programs, provided the views of young people themselves are incorporated in the program content.

Objective: To understand young adults’ perceptions of online and real-life social influences on their food and activity choices. Design: A qualitative study involving seven focus groups. Thematic analyses using both deductive and inductive techniques were performed. Setting: A polytechnic and a university in Singapore. Participants: A total of 46 full-time students, 19-24 years of age. Results: Participants revealed that social media meets multiple needs, contributing to its ubiquitous use and facilitating content spread between social networks. Food-related content shared on social media were mostly commercial posts, marketing foods and eateries showcasing price-promotions, emphasizing sensory properties of foods, or creating narratives that activated trends. Subsequently, real-life social activities frequently revolve around marketed foods that were not necessarily healthy. In contrast, physical activity posts were rarely being followed up in real life. Portrayals describing a toxic gym culture could contribute to negative perceptions of peers’ physical activity posts and a disinclination towards sharing such posts. Participants expressed that close, supportive social networks in real-life strongly influenced initiating and maintaining healthy lifestyles. However, in a society that highly values academic achievements, participants prioritized studying and socializing over healthy eating and physical activity. Conclusions: Overall, our findings reveal that virtual and real-life social influences have complex interactions affecting Asian young adults’ behavioral choices and should be considered when designing interventions for this group. Regulations related to the digital marketing of unhealthy food, and improving the availability, accessibility, and affordability of healthier food options, particularly in the foodservice sector, would be of value to consider.

Background: Effective prevention is critical to halt the obesity epidemic. Mobile-health applications would potentially reach large numbers at low-cost, but there is already a profusion of lifestyle apps, which are mostly non-evidence-based and evidently ineffective against rising obesity prevalence.Objective: This study explores preferences and usage of lifestyle apps among young people in six countries.Methods: A mixed-study was conducted among young people aged 13-24-years residing in the UK, Belgium, Finland, Greece, Singapore and New Zealand. Participants were recruited by an online advertisement on Facebook, asking for volunteers interested in mobile apps in general, and not specific to lifestyle or health, to complete a short survey comprised of 18 questions on demographics, weight-gain and mobile app preferences and then to join online asynchronous English-language Focus Groups. Focus groups were held during 2017, in password-protected web-rooms, moderated by an experienced researcher. Descriptive statistics were carried out for the survey and thematic analysis was applied to transcripts.Results: A total of 2,285 young people (610 'adolescents' aged 13-17 and 1,675 'young adults' aged 18-24) responded to the advertisement and completed the survey with 72.0%, n=1,645 reported being concerned about weight-gain for themselves or friends. Then, 807 young people (376 adolescents and 431 young adults) were selected on the basis of age and country to participate in twelve online focus groups, with 719 young people completing.Thematic analysis of transcripts revealed three main common themes; a) Feelings on weightchanges and weight-gain prevention apps; b) Social media apps, lifestyle apps and motivation for downloading and retaining; c) Confidentiality, data safety and data usage. Conclusions:Participating young people are commonly, consistently across 6 countries, concerned about weight-gain and obesity. Evidence-based mHealth IT programmes for preventing weight-gain would be well received, provided the views of young people themselves are incorporated in programme content and app design.

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