B. Howardpitney et al., THE STANFORD NUTRITION ACTION PROGRAM - A DIETARY-FAT INTERVENTION FOR LOW-LITERACY ADULTS, American journal of public health, 87(12), 1997, pp. 1971-1976
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.