Follow-up of a web-based tailored intervention promoting the Mediterranean diet in Scotland.
OBJECTIVE
To assess the impact of a 3-month follow-up of a 6-month quasi-experimental study conducted to evaluate a web-based, tailored-feedback intervention promoting four key components of the Mediterranean diet.


METHODS
Fifty-three (intervention) and nineteen (control) healthy females, 25-55 years, employed at two Universities in Glasgow, Scotland, between 2003 and 2004 participated. Participants received tailored dietary and psychosocial feedback and Internet education, or minimal dietary feedback and general healthy-eating brochures, respectively. Dietary intake using 7d-estimated food diaries and blood lipids were assessed at baseline, 6 (post-test) and 9 months (follow-up).


RESULTS
Intention-to-treat analyses for between-group comparisons over time showed that the intervention group had increased their vegetable intake over 9 months and had more favourable levels of HDL-cholesterol and ratio of total:HDL-cholesterol over the 9-month assessment, compared with the control group. Within-group comparisons showed that, except for fruit consumption, the intervention group sustained their dietary improvement at 9 months, compared with baseline.


CONCLUSIONS
This intervention proved successful at sustaining most of the favourable dietary and blood lipid profile changes achieved over the 6-month intervention at the 3-month follow-up.


CONCLUSIONS
This intervention can be effective in promoting a Mediterranean-style diet in work settings.
Papadaki
Angeliki
A
Preventive Medicine and Nutrition Clinic, Department of Social Medicine, Medical School, University of Crete, Crete, Greece. agpapadak@edu.med.uoc.gr
Scott
Jane A
JA
D000328:Adult; D003194:Computer-Assisted Instruction / Q000379:methods*; D038441:Diet, Mediterranean; D030141:Feedback, Psychological; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet; D010353:Patient Education as Topic / Q000379:methods*; D012606:Scotland