title: A Pre and Post Survey to Determine Effectiveness of a Dietitian-Based Nutrition Education Strategy on Fruit and Vegetable Intake and Energy Intake among Adults.
abstract: The purpose of the study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a multicomponent nutrition education program among adults. A pretest-posttest design was used assessing Nutritional Knowledge (NK), BMI, Energy Intake (EI), Physical Activity Level (PAL), Dietary Intake (DI) and attitudes. 353 adults aged 19-55 years (178 control group (CG) and 175 intervention group (IG)) were recruited. IG participants attended nutrition education sessions evaluated through a post-test given at the end of the 12-week program. Statistical tests performed revealed that compared to CG, participants in IG increased fruit intake and decreased intake of snacks high in sugar and fat significantly (p < 0.05). NK and attitudinal scores also increased significantly in the IG (p < 0.05). No intervention effect was found for vegetables intake, EI, BMI and PAL (p > 0.05). Factors influencing NK were age, gender and education level. "Taste" was the main barrier to the application of the nutrition education strategy. Findings are helpful to health practitioners in designing their intervention programs.
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Sciences, Faculty of Science, University of Mauritius, Réduit 80837, Mauritius. dhandevi.pem@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Dhandevi
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Pem
authors.affiliation: Department of Marine &amp; Ocean Science, Fisheries &amp; Mariculture, Faculty of Ocean Studies, University of Mauritius, Réduit 80837, Mauritius. shyamb@uom.ac.mu.
authors.forename: Suress
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bhagwant
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Sciences, Faculty of Science, University of Mauritius, Réduit 80837, Mauritius. r.jeewon@uom.ac.mu.
authors.forename: Rajesh
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Jeewon
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D004032:Diet / Q000009:adverse effects; D015930:Diet Records; D004522:Educational Status; D002149:Energy Intake; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005260:Female; D005518:Food Preferences; D005638:Fruit; D015438:Health Behavior; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008436:Mauritius; D008875:Middle Aged; D009749:Nutrition Surveys; D064686:Nutritionists; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D012737:Sex Factors; D013649:Taste; D013997:Time Factors; D014675:Vegetables; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: body mass index; energy intake; fruit and vegetable; nutrition knowledge