Work-site nutrition intervention and employees' dietary habits: the Treatwell program.
In a randomized, controlled study of the Treatwell work-site nutrition intervention program, which focused on promoting eating patterns low in fat and high in fiber, 16 work sites from Massachusetts and Rhode Island were recruited to participate and randomly assigned to either an intervention or a control condition. The intervention included direct education and environmental programming tailored to each work site; control work sites received no intervention. A cohort of workers randomly sampled from each site was surveyed both prior to and following the intervention. Dietary patterns were assessed using a semiquantitative food frequency questionnaire. Adjusting for work site, the decrease in mean dietary fat intake was 1.1% of total calories more in intervention sites than in control sites (P less than .005). Mean changes in dietary fiber intake between intervention and control sites did not differ. This study provides evidence that a work-site nutrition intervention program can effectively influence the dietary habits of workers.
Sorensen
G
G
Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Control, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA 02115.
Morris
D M
DM
Hunt
M K
MK
Hebert
J R
JR
Harris
D R
DR
Stoddard
A
A
Ockene
J K
JK
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D015992:Body Mass Index; D004041:Dietary Fats / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000032:analysis; D004043:Dietary Fiber / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000032:analysis; D004522:Educational Status; D002149:Energy Intake; D005006:Ethnicity; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005260:Female; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000592:standards*; D006302:Health Services Research; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008404:Massachusetts / Q000453:epidemiology; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D009749:Nutrition Surveys; D052756:Nutritional Sciences / Q000193:education*; D009765:Obesity / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D009786:Occupational Health Services / Q000592:standards*; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D015397:Program Evaluation; D012237:Rhode Island / Q000453:epidemiology
D004041:Dietary Fats; D004043:Dietary Fiber