BEHAVIORAL DIAGNOSIS OF 30-YEAR-OLD TO 60-YEAR-OLD MEN IN THE FABREVILLE HEART HEALTH-PROGRAM

To develop effective interventions in the Fabreville Heart Health Prog ram, a behavioral diagnosis was conducted on a sample of 1,600 men 30 to 60 years of age residing in the Fabreville district of Laval, Quebe c's second most populous city. The response rate of the self-administe red postal questionnaire was 73.5%. The results indicate that dietary fat consumption, smoking and a sedentary lifestyle were more prevalent among the younger respondents, particularly those less-educated. The results underline the importance of segmenting the target population s o that heart health interventions can respond to the specific needs of each sub-population. Furthermore, the data seem to suggest the need t o adapt educational messages to the target lifestyle habits. The resul ts showed that in terms of diet, consumption of meat and dairy product s contributed the most to fat intake. Of the 30% who were smokers, a l arge proportion would be reluctant to stop the habit; 20% smoked 26 ci garettes or more a day, and more than half had already tried once or m ore to stop. Although 60% of respondents indicated they engaged in phy sical activity, only 37.0% did it regularly. These results demonstrate the need to clearly target specific behaviours and subgroups in our p romotion messages for a healthy heart.