Strengths and limitations
RECRUITMENT, CHRONIC DISEASES
The current study has several strengths and limitations. Strengths include its randomised interventional design, which reduces allocation and sampling biases and allows comparison to determine the actual effect. Furthermore, this study was blinded to the participants, hence maximising the validity of the results. In addition, the study is novel in the region and in the way it looked at different interacting variables, and their influence on eating behaviours. Moreover, the design allowed to deliver an intervention that mimics daily life exposure to nutrition awareness through social media without manipulation of the participants’ setting and environment.Limitations of the study include its small sample size when compared with other text-messaging interventions and the use of self-reported surveys. Furthermore, the method of recruitment (snowball method) is a significant limitation that could have created a non-representable sample. Other limitations include the level of education and place of residence of the participants, with the majority being educated, and residing in South Lebanon, as data were collected using a snowball method. The possibility of cross contamination, where participants would share messages with each other, is also a significant limitation; however, we could not guarantee that the participants know or contact each other. In addition, residual confounders that are known to influence IE such as chronic diseases, mental health, eating habits, self-efficacy, social gathering and physical activity level were not measured in an effort not to over-burden participants.