Fully digital personalised nutritional advice delivers measurable health benefits

From personalised care to digital reality

All participants received health feedback based on their own measurements. In all three groups, this led to a dietary intake that was more in line with the nutritional guidelines. However, between the interventionclear differences emerged. Participants following generic dietary guidelines. However, personalised interventions are often considered difficult to scale due to their reliance on in-person counselling and repeated consultations.

To explore whether studies on personalisation can be performed more efficiently and with reduced participant burden,TNO studied how a personalised nutrition intervention performs in a fully digital, real-life setting.

Testing nutrition advice without face-to-face contact

In a six-week randomised intervention, adults with overweight or obesity followed dietary advice that was delivered entirely online. Participants received either generic nutritional guidance, personalised dietary advice tailored to their energy and macronutrient needs, or personalised advice combined with personalised meal boxes. All communication, measurements and questionnaires were carried out remotely.

Participants measured their own body weight and circumferences at home and shared their data digitally. At no point did researchers or participants meet in person.

Reliable measurements from home

One of the main challenges of digital health interventions lies in data quality. The study shows that self-measurement does not have to be a limiting factor. Participants generally found it easy to carry out measurements themselves, and the collected data showed consistent patterns.

Changes in body weight aligned logically with changes in waist and hip circumference, indicating that participant-collected data were reliable enough to detect health effects outside a controlled clinical environment. In addition, sex differences in waist-to-hip ratio and sex-specific responses to the nutritional interventions were observed, further supporting the accuracy of remotely collected data.

Personalisation makes the difference

Clear differences emerged between the intervention groups. Participants following generic dietary advice did not show meaningful weight change over the study period. However, those who received personalised nutritional advice achieved statistically significant weight loss. The largest effects were seen among participants who combined personalised advice with personalised meal boxes.

Although personalised advice was not perceived as easier or more enjoyable to follow, it led to better outcomes. The results suggest that relevance and fit are more decisive than user experience alone.

Supporting behaviour in daily life

The additional impact of personalised meal boxes highlights the importance of translating advice into daily practice. Participants who received meals aligned with their advice found it easier to adhere to the intervention and reported greater dietary change.

Physical activity levels remained stable across all groups, indicating that the observed effects were driven primarily by dietary changes rather than increased exercise.

Enabling scalable prevention

These findings show that personalised nutrition can be delivered in a fully digital way while maintaining effectiveness. Participants can reliably collect health data at home, tailored advice leads to stronger outcomes than generic guidance, and additional practical support improves adherence (through food boxes).

Digital personalised nutrition therefore offers a promising route towards scalable, preventive healthcare that fits everyday life, while maintaining its effectiveness and scientific robustness.

Collaboration opportunities

Are you interested in this research and would you like to explore it further? Please get in touch if you are interested in collaborating, exploring interventions, or testing your product at scale.