{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,14]],"date-time":"2026-08-14T04:30:36Z","timestamp":1786681836120,"version":"build-2736575974"},"reference-count":23,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"16","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,12]],"date-time":"2026-08-12T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1786492800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100003399","name":"Shanghai Science and Technology Commission","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","award":["25HC2820706"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["25HC2820706"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100003399","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]},{"name":"Health Shanghai Action Plan","award":["JKSHZX-2025-04"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["JKSHZX-2025-04"]}]},{"name":"Shanghai Key Laboratory of Intelligent Big Data Applications for Public Health","award":["25dz2260600"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["25dz2260600"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Nutrients"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background\/Objectives: Although efficacious in randomized trials, the real-world adoption of AI-driven dietary management applications remains uncertain across diverse dining contexts and populations. Methods: This field-based observational study was conducted over 18 days at three real-world dining sites in Shanghai, China, enrolling 181 participants stratified into three groups based on food service style and customer attribute. A cross-sectional survey was administered on day 9, followed by a 9-day prospective usage tracking period. Results: After adjusting for sex, Group 2 (staff cafeteria with fixed-portion dishes) had the highest adjusted mean usability score at 71.20 (p &lt; 0.001). Group 3 (community canteen) had the highest mean scores for information quality (16.57, p = 0.03) and perceptions of intended use in nutrition (12.01, p = 0.08). However, Group 3 recorded zero active usage sessions despite favorable initial perceptions. Conclusions: Favorable user perceptions of this AI-driven dietary management tool did not automatically translate into adoption. Scenario-specific usability and digital divide constraints define the boundary of real-world efficacy; moreover, AI may amplify existing dietary self-management behaviors rather than creating them de novo.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/nu18162640","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,12]],"date-time":"2026-08-12T14:45:06Z","timestamp":1786545906000},"page":"2640","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Perception\u2013Adoption Gap of an AI Dietary Management App in Real-World Dining Settings: A Field Study"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"18","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0005-7545-3236","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Shupeng","family":"Mai","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Health Risk Factors Monitoring and Control, National Health Commission Specialty Laboratory of Food Safety Risk Assessment and Standard Development, Shanghai Municipal Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Shanghai 200336, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jinji","family":"Xu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Public Health, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0000-8958-7765","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Zihan","family":"Hu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Public Health, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Chengdi","family":"Shan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Food and Nutrition Hygiene, Huangpu District Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Shanghai 200001, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yuqi","family":"Zhao","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Public Health, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Hongwei","family":"Liu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Public Health, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0003-0939-5483","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Qi","family":"Song","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Health Risk Factors Monitoring and Control, National Health Commission Specialty Laboratory of Food Safety Risk Assessment and Standard Development, Shanghai Municipal Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Shanghai 200336, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5538-4257","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Zhenni","family":"Zhu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Health Risk Factors Monitoring and Control, National Health Commission Specialty Laboratory of Food Safety Risk Assessment and Standard Development, Shanghai Municipal Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Shanghai 200336, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,12]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1626","DOI":"10.1001\/jama.2025.15074","article-title":"Artificial Intelligence Across the JAMA Network","volume":"334","author":"Liu","year":"2025","journal-title":"JAMA"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1650","DOI":"10.1001\/jama.2025.18490","article-title":"AI, Health, and Health Care Today and Tomorrow","volume":"334","author":"Angus","year":"2025","journal-title":"JAMA"},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"133","DOI":"10.1080\/17538157.2025.2560834","article-title":"Applications of generative and predictive AI in nutrition and dietetics: A narrative review","volume":"50","author":"Bayram","year":"2025","journal-title":"Inform. 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