From eco-rating apps to immersive virtual supermarkets, researchers are exploring whether technology can nudge people towards healthier and more sustainable eating habits, and why stronger, longer-term evidence is urgently needed.
Study: Digital tools to promote healthy and sustainable eating behaviors in the general population: a systematic literature review. Image credit: KucherAV/Shutterstock.com
A recent systematic review published in Nutrients examined whether digital technologies are effectively promoting healthier and more sustainable eating habits in the general population. The revision followed PRISM (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) guidelines and synthesis items from 16 empirical studies.
Importance of sustainable diet
A sound food system is not only critical for public health but also for environmental sustainability. Diets high in animal and highly processed foods increase the risk of chronic disease and contribute to environmental problems, including higher greenhouse gas emissions and resource use.
The One Health approach emphasizes that human, animal and ecosystem health are closely linked, making it essential for sustainable food systems. This framework highlights how dietary choices affect public health, the environment and animal welfare. Shifting to plant-based and flexible diets can significantly improve health outcomes, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and reduce harm to animals.
Promoting sustainable eating habits can improve both environmental outcomes and personal health, but requires a holistic perspective. Not all diets that focus on sustainability are healthy, especially if they are overly restrictive or unbalanced. The guidelines emphasize that healthy, sustainable diets should provide adequate nutrition, minimize environmental impact and support overall well-being. The authors also highlight a bidirectional relationship between diet and mental health, noting that poor diet quality can worsen psychological outcomes, while certain mental health conditions may contribute to dysfunctional and environmentally harmful eating behaviors.
Adopting healthy, sustainable eating habits can be difficult due to cognitive, social and cultural barriers. These include emotional attachment to traditional diets, lack of environmental concern, and practical issues such as the limited availability or convenience of sustainable food options.
Criticism features
To date, the impact of digital technologies on sustainable and healthy eating habits has not been thoroughly studied. This systematic narrative review evaluates digital technologies for promoting healthy and sustainable eating behaviors, with an emphasis on categorizing psychological factors and behavioral strategies in the context of digital interventions. The researchers obtained relevant literature from PsycInfo, PsycArticles, PubMed, and ProQuest.
The current review included 16 studies, of which 56% were randomized controlled trials and 50% were non-controlled designs. Only 31% included follow-up assessments that typically lasted 1–4 weeks, and no studies included long-term follow-up beyond 3 months. Sample sizes across research varied significantly, with mobile app-based studies more often including larger samples and follow-up assessments compared to many virtual reality studies. Interestingly, most participants were healthy, non-vegetarian adults and 31% were university students. Approximately 94% of the articles reviewed included mixed-sex samples. some included unspecified genders or focused only on women.
According to the methodologies used, about 69 % of the studies used ad hoc questionnaires or interviews to assess outcomes, with only one reference to the original Theory of Planned Behavior questionnaire. In addition, some studies used additional tools such as food diaries or semi-structured interviews, and 29% used standardized psychometric scales. Several studies of mobile apps were partially based on qualitative or descriptive data, limiting the power of statistical conclusions.
It should be noted that research quality varied: 44% of studies were rated strong, 25% moderate and 31% weak. Weaknesses arose mainly from short or absent follow-up, small sample sizes, and risk of bias. More than 50% of research failed to control for confounding variables. The authors also note that, in several cases, psychological and behavioral strategies had to be inferred by the reviewers rather than explicitly stated by the study authors, introducing potential subjectivity into the categorization process.
The body of literature has been challenged by inconsistent terminology for ‘sustainable diets’ and by the tendency of studies to focus on single aspects, such as meat reduction and waste minimisation, rather than the multi-dimensional nature of sustainable diets.
Impact of Digital Interventions on Sustainable Eating Behaviors
The present review included 16 studies targeting interventions that support both individual health and environmental sustainability. The general inclusion criteria reflected the novelty of the field, leading to heterogeneity in study designs, sample sizes and settings and excluding meta-analysis. Nevertheless, evidence suggests that digital tools using different psychological and behavioral strategies can produce promising short-term improvements in dietary practices, although effect sizes varied and were reported inconsistently across studies.
Technology has offered innovative ways to help people adopt healthier and more sustainable eating habits. Tools like smartphone apps, web platforms and VR can encourage positive change by making information more accessible and engaging. Many technologies use psychological techniques such as gamification and nudging to support conscious, sustainable choices. Research areas such as Design for Sustainable Behavior and theories such as the Theory of Planned Behavior also guide the development of effective digital interventions.
Smartphone apps and VR The platforms were used more frequently and were associated with short-term positive outcomes, particularly in reducing red and processed meat intake, increasing plant-based food choices, and enhancing food awareness and decision-making. However, the magnitude and duration of these effects remain uncertain due to short follow-up periods and methodological variability.
Self-monitoring features, found primarily in smartphone apps and messaging interventions, enabled monitoring of eating behavior and progress toward personal goals, often within systems that provided reminders and feedback. VR and web platforms often aim for self-efficacy and response efficiency, boosting users’ confidence to make sustainable choices through immersive feedback and real-time visualization of health or environmental impacts.
The review also systematically categorized psychological factors and behavioral strategies used in digital interventions. Awareness was the most frequently targeted construct, often operating through educational content, games or interactive experiences to improve knowledge of sustainable practices and environmental impacts.
Digital tools have helped people make decisions through features such as eco-scores, feedback and motivational messages. Techniques to influence emotions, such as making users feel proud or sad, were used less often, but can also encourage sustainable choices. Digital technologies and interactive platforms are also valuable in clinical psychology, where they support the treatment and prevention of eating disorders and assist in the management of these conditions, although this review specifically focused on interventions in the general population rather than clinical samples.
Digital intervention shows promise in promoting sustainable nutrition
The current review highlighted that digital tools such as smartphone apps and VRcan help people make more sustainable food choices, especially when they include feedback, engaging content and step-by-step guidance. However, the authors stress that most evidence reflects short-term behavioral changes rather than ongoing changes. Adding design elements that encourage sustainable behavior can improve outcomes, but more research is needed to determine whether these changes persist over time.
The authors further note that digital interventions often rely on prompts and nudges at the individual level, raising questions about their long-term transformative impact compared to broader systemic or community approaches.
Overall, while digital technologies show potential as scalable tools to promote healthier and more sustainable diets, the evidence base remains methodologically heterogeneous and relatively immature, highlighting the need for more rigorous, longitudinal, theory-based, and better standardized research to elucidate long-term effectiveness and comparative impact among technologies.
