Evaluation of a Dutch public-private partnership to promote healthier diet.
OBJECTIVE
Public-private partnerships may help to promote healthy diets. We assessed customers' exposure to and the acceptability of a Dutch public-private healthy diet campaign in butcher's shops and investigated the effects on the purchase of lean meat and the use of liquid cooking margarine and potential behavioral determinants.


METHODS
The pretest-posttest control group design included 486 customers (242 experimental and 244 control) of butcher shops representing 64% of the original sample. Campaign exposure, acceptability, and behavioral effects were measured by a questionnaire.


RESULTS
Seventy-one percent of the customers noticed the campaign. Scores on the acceptability were positive to very positive. Regression analysis revealed that customers in the experimental condition evaluated the campaign better (B = .415; p < .05) and felt more encouraged to buy lean meat (B = .252; p < .05) than customers in the control condition. No effects on behavior were found.


CONCLUSIONS
Study design limitations included possible campaign exposure of control group participants. The study shows the feasibility and acceptability of a joint health-promoting activity through a public-private partnership, but there were no effects on behavior.
van Assema
Patricia
P
Department of Health Education and Promotion, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands. p.vanassema@gvo.unimaas.nl
Steenbakkers
Mieke
M
Stapel
Hanna
H
van Keulen
Hilde
H
Ronda
Gaby
G
Brug
Johannes
J
D000328:Adult; D001294:Attitude to Health; D002755:Choice Behavior; D003296:Cooking / Q000379:methods; D018752:Diet, Fat-Restricted / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008460:Meat / Q000145:classification* / Q000592:standards; D008875:Middle Aged; D009426:Netherlands; D017149:Private Sector; D017150:Public Sector; D012044:Regression Analysis; D040241:Social Marketing; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires