Extrait

Background and study aims The increasing occurrence of heart disease, stroke, cancer and diabetes is of major public health concern worldwide. These diseases can be prevented by a diet that is low in unhealthy saturated fat, sugar and salt. It is accepted that health behaviours are influenced by the surrounding environment in which individuals live and work. Modifying these environments can help accelerate this change. Therefore the workplace is a potentially important setting to promote a healthy diet as individuals spend two thirds of their waking hours at work. Workplace health promotion programmes have become increasingly popular; however, at present we have only limited evidence that these programmes are effective and provide good value for money. Therefore we propose to assess the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of a workplace dietary intervention that is focused on environmental dietary modification alone or combined with nutrition education to improve employees’ diet, nutrition knowledge and health. Who can participate? This workplace dietary intervention will be conducted in four large manufacturing workplaces based in Cork in the Republic of Ireland over 20-23 months. This study aims to recruit 448 (112 per workplace) permanent, full-time employees who purchase and consume at least one main meal from their workplace canteens on a daily basis. What does the study involve? The four participating workplaces (A, B C and D) will receive different interventions. No intervention will be offered to workplace A. Workplace B will receive nutrition education. Workplace C will receive nutrition education and environmental dietary modification. Workplace D will receive environmental dietary modification. Environmental dietary modification includes changing the menu to restrict levels of fat, saturated fat, sugar and salt, and increase fibre, fruit and vegetables; price discounts for whole fresh fruit; strategic positioning of healthier alternatives; and portion size control. Nutrition education includes group presentations, individual nutrition consultations and detailed nutrition information. A sample of workplace stakeholders (catering managers, human resources managers, occupational health managers and employee representatives) will be interviewed at the start of the study and at follow-up after 7-9 and 20-23 months. The cost-effectiveness of each intervention will also be measured. Data will be collected at the start of the study and after 3-4 months, 7-9 months and 20-23 months to examine changes in employees’ diet, health and nutrition education. Data will be collected during employees' working hours in the individual workplaces. Participants will be asked to complete questionnaires and physical assessments (weight, BMI, waist circumference, blood pressure, urine analysis) and 24-hr dietary recalls will be conducted by trained research assistants. What are the possible benefits and risks of participating? The interventions may improve employees’ diet and reduce their diet-related disease risks. This study will provide critical evidence of the effectiveness of workplace interventions in the promotion of healthy diet in the manufacturing working population. It may assist in the development of future guidelines to improve diet in the workplace and will inform future researchers. It may influence national and international catering stakeholders and policy makers and motivate the food industry to provide healthier food choices. We don’t anticipate any risks for those participating. Where is the study run from? This study has been set by the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health at University College Cork, Ireland. When is the study starting and how long is it expected to run for? Recruitment for the study started in February 2013 and data collection is ongoing. Participants will be enrolled for a period of 20-23 months. The interventions were implemented over a period of 9 months. Who is funding the study? This work is supported by the Health Research Board (HRB) Centre for Health & Diet Research grant, which is funded by the HRB, Ireland and by the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Ireland. Who is the main contact? Professor Ivan J Perry (principal investigator) [email protected] Ms Fiona Geaney (lead investigator) [email protected]

Critère d'inclusion

• Improving dietary behaviours to reduce diet-related disease risk

Liens

• ictrp
• isrctn