(OR11-07-26) The Relationship Between Receptivity to Questions about Dietary Just-in-Time-Adaptive Intervention (JITAI) and Daily Dietary Quality Among Healthy Adults

Objectives: Just-in-time adaptive intervention (JITAI) is a promising approach for delivering tailored dietary support in moments of eating, but receptivity (i.e., the ability to receive and respond to intervention) may vary depending on the situational context. Therefore, this pilot study sought to discover whether daily dietary quality is related to JITAI receptivity in free-living adults.

Methods: Self-identified healthy adults (≥ <18 years) from a university campus were recruited for this cross-sectional study. Participants wore a sensor activated camera (Automatic Ingestion Monitor v2, AIM-2) to capture eating events over 24 hours and completed the Automated Self-Administered 24-hour dietary recall for the same period. They reviewed images and rated indicators of JITAI receptivity for each eating event. Dietary quality, measured using total and component Healthy Eating Index (HEI‑2020) scores, was derived from the dietary recall data. Multiple logistic regression determined associations between diet quality and the percentage of receptive eating occasions over total eating occasions in the day with adjustment for potential confounders.

Results: Of the 122 participants initially recruited and retained for analysis, 70.4% were women. The mean age of sample was 27 years (SD = 9.0), and the mean BMI was 25.4 kg/m² (SD = 5.6). A lower Greens and Beans score was associated with a significant 15% higher likelihood of being receptive to view JITAI prompts (odds ratio (OR)=1.15; 95% confidence interval (CI):1.01-1.32; P-value =0.04). Additionally, those showing a lower Whole Fruit score had a 19% and 23% higher likelihood of being receptive to modify food portion and dietary behavior, respectively, when prompted by a smartphone-delivered notification (OR=1.19; 95% CI:1.001-1.41; P-value =0.049, OR=1.23; 95% CI:1.04-1.46; P-value =0.02). Similarly, lower adherence to Added Sugar recommendations had a 14% greater willingness to change eating habits (OR=1.14; 95% CI:1.001-1.30; P-value =0.049).

Conclusions: Poor adherence to certain components of dietary guidelines is associated with enhanced engagement in dietary JITAI. Future studies should explore how individual and contextual factors shape interaction with digital nutrition interventions.

Funding Sources: National Institutes of Health (NIH)