Online nutrition information for pregnant women: a content analysis

Abstract

Pregnant women actively seek health information online, including nutrition and food-related topics. However, the accuracy and readability of this information have not been evaluated. The aim of this study was to describe and evaluate pregnancy-related food and nutrition information available online. Four search engines were used to search for pregnancy-related nutrition web pages. Content analysis of web pages was performed. Web pages were assessed against the 2013 Australian Dietary Guidelines to assess accuracy. Flesch-Kincaid (F-K), Simple Measure of Gobbledygook (SMOG), Gunning Fog Index (FOG) and Flesch reading ease (FRE) formulas were used to assess readability. Data was analysed descriptively. Spearman's correlation was used to assess the relationship between web page characteristics. Kruskal-Wallis test was used to check for differences among readability and other web page characteristics. A total of 693 web pages were included. Web page types included commercial (n = 340), not-for-profit (n = 113), blogs (n = 112), government (n = 89), personal (n = 36) and educational (n = 3). The accuracy of online nutrition information varied with 39.7% of web pages containing accurate information, 22.8% containing mixed information and 37.5% containing inaccurate information. The average reading grade of all pages analysed measured by F-K, SMOG and FOG was 11.8. The mean FRE was 51.6, a 'fairly difficult to read' score. Only 0.5% of web pages were written at or below grade 6 according to F-K, SMOG and FOG. The findings suggest that accuracy of pregnancy-related nutrition information is a problem on the internet. Web page readability is generally difficult and means that the information may not be accessible to those who cannot read at a sophisticated level. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Smartphone applications available to pregnant women in the United Kingdom: An assessment of nutritional information

“…Our review also identified a focus on food safety, although a number of apps included mixed information, in line with Womack et al () who reported conflicting information in prenatal apps. We found that iodine was the least covered nutrition topic, consistent with a review of online nutrition information for Australian pregnant women (Storr et al, ). Furthermore, iodine was not widely covered in the context of vegetarian and vegan diets that is of concern due to importance of iodine in fetal brain development (Zimmermann, ) and of emerging iodine deficiency in pregnancy (Dahl et al, ; Henjum et al, ; Snart et al, ).…”

“…The level of accuracy of nutrition information was a concern, particularly for energy intake during pregnancy, with some apps recommending third trimester energy increments over twice the U.K. recommendation. Inconsistencies in energy and nutrient recommendations were also reported by Storr et al () where much of the online content was not in line with the Australian guidelines. Some of the inaccuracies may be due to differences in the recommendations in the apps' country of origin compared with the United Kingdom.…”

“…recommendation. Inconsistencies in energy and nutrient recommendations were also reported by Storr et al (2017) where much of the online content was not in line with the Australian guidelines. Some of the inaccuracies may be due to differences in the recommendations in the apps' country of origin compared with the United Kingdom.…”

The Eye of the Beholder: A Discussion of Value and Quality From the Perspective of Families of Children and Youth With Special Health Care Needs

“…26,27 Even accurate information is often presented at a reading level that is too high for the average user to understand. 28 Health and health care financing literacy and their consequent choices made by families of CYSHCN should be an area of additional research. Insurers and policymakers should be asked, or even required, to take the findings into consideration as information that affects the general public is developed and made available.…”

UK Internet antenatal dietary advice: a content accuracy and readability analysis

“…Despite the Internet's convenience, information on diet and nutrition related to pregnancy may be unreliable and out of date. In a study examining accuracy of online pregnancy-related information in Australia, Storr et al (15) found that 40 % of 693 Internet pages contained accurate information, 37 % contained inaccurate information and 23 % contained a mix of both. A recent review of pregnancy smartphone apps found that overall they do not consistently provide accurate and useful nutrition information (11) .…”