Development and validation of Roots and Greens: a Whatsapp-based nutrition education program promoting indigenous produce among youth

The delivery of nutrition education through familiar social media platforms like WhatsApp provides the opportunity to facilitate positive dietary behaviors among young adults in low-resource settings. However, many WhatsApp nutrition education curricula were not developed using systematic, theory-driven, cultural, and contextual validation. Hence, they do not produce the intended results. This study aimed to develop and validate curriculum content and assess the feasibility and acceptability of WhatsApp-delivered nutrition education. The study utilized three phases of curriculum development, content and response process validation by experts and inter-raters, and pilot testing among the target audience while being observed by teachers. Forty potential participants were recruited for the study, twenty-two consented and had their participation tracked, while sixteen completed the post-WhatsApp nutrition education survey, constituting the final analytic sample. Using a 5-point Likert scale, the curriculum content was assessed on scientific accuracy, cultural and contextual appropriateness, and perceived effectiveness. The reliability of the curriculum evaluation was assessed using Kendall’s coefficient of concordance (W), percent agreement, and absolute mean differences. The constructs and overall means of the Theoretical Framework of Acceptability (TFA) were used to assess acceptability. Cronbach’s alpha was used to determine the internal consistency of the TFA domains. Analyses were conducted in R version 4.5.0. The study has an equal gender distribution of participants, 50% male and 50% female. The average overall agreement was W: 0.66, percent agreement ranged from 83.3% to 100%. The Cronbach’s alpha values of the TFA domains ranged from 0.60 to 0.89. The participants’ and teachers’ overall acceptability of the TFA domains were 4.50 and 4.71, respectively. The study successfully developed and validated a WhatsApp-based nutrition education curriculum that promotes indigenous produce among the youth in southwest Nigeria. The study findings indicate that WhatsApp is a feasible and acceptable nutrition education platform, especially for youth in limited-resource settings.