COMPONENTS OF THE WORKING WELL TRIAL INTERVENTION ASSOCIATED WITH ADOPTION OF HEALTHFUL DIETS

Introduction: This report examines whether variability in the type and amount of the nutrition intervention in a worksite-based intervention could explain dietary outcomes. Methods: Data are from 55 interventio n worksites in the Working Well Trial, a randomized controlled trial o f worksite-based health promotion. The components of the nutrition int ervention were kickoff event, direct education, interactive activities (e.g., food sampling), contests, printed information picked up by emp loyees, and materials distributed to employees. We measured delivery o f the nutrition intervention (i.e., dose) by determining the amount of workforce participation in each intervention component. Diet outcomes were changes in intakes of fat, fiber, and servings of fruits and veg etables (reported on food frequency questionnaires). All variables wer e aggregated to the worksite level. We correlated the dose variables w ith indices of receipt of the intervention and with the dietary outcom es. Results: Contests were associated with employee awareness of and p articipation in the nutrition intervention (r = 0.49 and 0.28, respect ively); and interactive activities were associated with intervention p articipation (r = 0.43). Contests were associated with increased fiber intake and fruit and vegetable consumption (r = 0.36 and 0.31, respec tively), and direct education was associated with fruit and vegetable consumption (r = 0.38). All the above correlation coefficients were st atistically significant (P < .05). Intervention dose was not associate d with changes in fat intake. Conclusions: It appears that longer, int eractive intervention efforts (contests and classes) resulted in more positive outcomes than did one-time activities (such as the kickoffs) or more passive efforts (use of printed materials). There is a need fo r studies designed to test worksite- and community-based nutrition int ervention methods. Medical Subject Headings (MeSH): health promotion, diet, nutrition, randomized controlled trial, worksite (work place).