Public Engagement in Digital Recommendations for Promoting Healthy Parental Behaviours from Preconception through the First 1000 Days

Abstract

Web-based digital interventions may play a central role for health promoting strategies in the first “1000 days”, from conception through the first 2 years of life. We developed a web platform providing evidence-based recommendations in the first 1000 days through short videos, and we studied engagement by users from preconception through parenthood in the second year of life. We described the access to videos by topic and used a multilevel model to explore the user characteristics associated with access to the video recommendations. Overall, breastfeeding, physical activity and nutrition were the most popular topics (normalized views: 89.2%, 87.2% and 86.4% respectively), while content on paternal health and smoking and alcohol was less engaging (37.3% and 42.0%). Nutrition content was the most viewed in the preconception period and during the first two trimesters of pregnancy. Nutrition and breastfeeding were also the most popular topics for users with children less than 2 years old. Higher levels of health literacy were associated only with child health content. The study findings indicate that digital strategies should be adapted according to the time period in the first 1000 days. Alternative digital promotion strategies for the less engaging topics should be considered.