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Journal of Integrative Agriculture  2026, Vol. 25 Issue (5): 2139-2147    DOI: 10.1016/j.jia.2025.12.053
Agricultural Economics and Management Advanced Online Publication | Current Issue | Archive | Adv Search |
Edutainment matters: Can short video apps improve household food consumption in rural China?

Shaoyue Ma1, 2, 3, Mingxing Sun1, 2#, Chao Fu1, 2, Linxiu Zhang1, 2

1 Key Laboratory of Ecosystem Network Observation and Modeling, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China

2 UN Environment Programme-International Ecosystem Management Partnership, Beijing 100101, China

3 University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China

 Highlights 
● Short video apps boost rural households’ food consumption and dietary diversity.  
● Improvement in nutrition awareness mediates the positive relationship between short video app use and dietary diversity.
● Effects are stronger for high-income rural groups and remote villages with access to express delivery services.

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摘要  

为保障营养摄入,减少饮食相关疾病的发生,亟需促进健康膳食的普及。目前,兼具信息传播、社交和购物功能的短视频软件被广泛使用,丰富了人们获取和交流信息、消费的途径。探索短视频软件的使用是否会影响家庭食品消费选择,为促进居民饮食转型提供了新思路,也为信息交流是否能促进健康饮食提供了经验证据。基于2023年中国5个省份100个村庄2000户农村家庭的第一手微观调查数据,探讨了短视频软件的使用对农村家庭食物消费的影响。研究结果表明,短视频软件的使用可以促进家庭人均食品消费和饮食多样性得分(DDS)的增加,主要体现在水产品、水果、禽肉、猪肉和大豆的消费增加,但不能提高家庭的健康膳食指数(CHDI)。短视频软件的使用主要通过提高居民的营养意识来促进饮食多样性得分的提升。短视频软件对饮食多样性得分的促进作用在高收入群体中更为显著,可以改善有快递点、无菜市场和远距离村庄的饮食多样性。总的来说,短视频软件使用能够帮助提升农村居民膳食认知,且能够一定程度上降低区位和配套设施对食物获取的影响。



Abstract  

To ensure nutritional intake and reduce the occurrence of diet-related diseases, it is urgent to promote a healthy diet.  At present, short video apps with information dissemination, social interaction, and online shopping are widely used, which have changed the way people obtain and exchange information, and the way of life and consumption.  Exploring whether short video app use can affect food consumption choices offers new insights for promoting dietary transformation among residents.  Based on the first-hand micro-survey data of 2,000 rural households across 100 villages in 5 Chinese provinces in 2023, this study examines the effects of short video app use on rural household food consumption.  The results show that short video app use can increase households’ per capita food consumption and dietary diversity, mainly by raising consumption of aquatic products, fruits, poultry, pork and soybeans, but it does not improve households’ food health index.  Short video app use promotes dietary diversity mainly by improving nutrition awareness.  Its positive effect on dietary diversity is stronger among high-income groups.  It also improves dietary diversity in villages that have express delivery points, but lack food markets and are remotely located.  Short video app use can help improve nutrition awareness and to a certain extent, reduce the impact of location and supporting facilities on food access.

Keywords:  short video apps       dietary structure       dietary diversity       nutrition level  
Received: 06 June 2024   Accepted: 17 November 2025 Online: 29 December 2025  
Fund: 

This study is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (52000170 and 72061147003).

About author:  Shaoyue Ma, E-mail: masy.20b@igsnrr.ac.cn; #Correspondence Mingxing Sun, E-mail: sunmx@igsnrr.ac.cn

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