The role of digital technologies in promoting healthy and sustainable eating: a systematic review of the literature

d sustainable eating behaviors and to summarize the psychological mechanisms used by the available technological tools. Keywords such as “sustainable diet” and “food sustainability” were combined with keywords identifying technological tools (e.g., “Virtual Reality,” “mobile app,” and “web app”) across four databases (PsycINFO, PsycArticles, PubMed, and ProQuest). Results: a total of 16 articles were identified. Six articles explored the use of virtual reality, six examined mobile apps, three focused on web platforms, and one on augmented reality. The results showed that technologies motivate behavioral change in the field of nutrition through psychological mechanisms such as awareness (n=10), self-efficacy (n=5), self-monitoring (n=4), and nudging (n=5). However, only a few studies included follow-up assessments (n=5). Discussion: the findings highlight that by targeting psychological mechanisms, digital technologies (in particular, virtual reality and mobile apps) can serve as useful resources for improving healthy and sustainable food behaviors and promoting physical and psychological well-being in the general population. However, further studies are needed to prove the long-term effects of these tools and to fully assess the effects of the available software across a wider variety of samples, such as clinical populations.