THE STANFORD NUTRITION ACTION PROGRAM - A DIETARY-FAT INTERVENTION FOR LOW-LITERACY ADULTS

Objectives. This study was undertaken to test the effectiveness : of t he Stanford Nutrition Action Program, an experimental trial to reduce dietary fat intake among low-literacy low-income adults. Methods. Twen ty-four paired adult education classes (351 participants, 85% women, m ean age = 31 years) were randomly assigned to receive a newly develope d dietary fat curriculum (the Stanford Nutrition Action Program) or an existing general nutrition curriculum. Food frequency and nutrition-r elated data, body mass index, and capillary blood cholesterol were col lected at baseline and at two postintervention follow-ups. Results. Th e Stanford Nutrition Action Program classes showed significantly great er net improvements in nutrition knowledge (+7.7), attitudes (+0.2), a nd self-efficacy (+0.2) than the general nutrition classes; they also showed significantly greater reductions in the percentage of calories from total (-2.3%) and saturated (-0.9%) fat. There were no significan t differences in body mass index or blood cholesterol. All positive in tervention effects were maintained for 3 months postintervention. Conc lusions. The Stanford Nutrition Action Program curriculum, tailored to the cultural, economic, and learning needs of low-literacy, low-incom e adults, was significantly more effective in achieving fat-related nu tritional changes than the general nutrition curriculum.