1.
Changes in diet quality score, macro- and micronutrients intake following a nutrition education intervention in postmenopausal women.
Manios, Y, Moschonis, G, Katsaroli, I, Grammatikaki, E, Tanagra, S
Journal of human nutrition and dietetics : the official journal of the British Dietetic Association. 2007;(2):126-31
Abstract
INTRODUCTION The aim of the current study was to assess the effectiveness of a nutrition education programme on post-menopausal women using self-reported nutrient intake data as well as a qualitative data obtained by the Healthy Eating Index (HEI). MATERIALS AND METHODS Seventy-five women (55-65 years old) were randomized to a dietary intervention group (IG: n=39), attending regular nutrition education sessions for 5 months and to a control group (CG: n=36). The intervention scheme was based on a combined application of the Health Belief Model and the Social Cognitive Theory, aiming to increase nutritional knowledge and self-efficacy of the subjects to adopt and maintain healthy dietary choices. Changes in self-reported macro- and micronutrients' intake as well as in the HEI total score and in its ten components were obtained. RESULTS The IG subjects reported increasing their milk (P<0.001) and total fat (P=0.01) HEI scores, decreasing total fat intake (P=0.050) and increasing calcium and vitamin D intakes (P<0.001 respectively) to a higher extent compared with the changes reported by the CG. CONCLUSION The current nutrition education programme appears to have induced favourable changes for the IG in micronutrients' intake primarily related to bone health and in total fat intake. These changes were reflected in the individual HEI indices but not in total HEI score.
2.
Health and nutrition education in primary schools of Crete: follow-up changes in body mass index and overweight status.
Kafatos, A, Manios, Y, Moschandreas, J, ,
European journal of clinical nutrition. 2005;(9):1090-2
Abstract
The current study examines the long-term effects of a school-based 'Health and Nutrition Education programme' on body mass index (BMI) changes and the prevalence of overweight. The intervention group consisted of all pupils registered in the first grade of two counties of the island of Crete in 1992, while all pupils registered in a third county formed the control group. For evaluation purposes, a representative sample was examined at baseline (1992) following the 6-y intervention (1998) and 4 y after the programme's cessation (2002). The data presented here are based on pupils with full anthropometrical data in all three examination periods (284 intervention group pupils and 257 control group pupils). Former intervention group pupils had lower average BMI (by 0.7 kg/m2, s.e. 0.28, P = 0.019) at the 10-y follow-up compared to the control group subjects, while no differences were detected in the prevalence of obesity between the two groups. The findings of the current study indicate that the beneficial effects of the programme on pupils' BMI continue, to an extent, 4 years after its cessation. However, the lack of significant differences in the prevalence of overweight between the two groups indicates that the effects of the intervention may not be equally distributed in the population, with greater effects in certain subgroups and less or none in others.