Effects of an Online Healthy Eating Programme on Consumption of Fruit and Vegetables, Saturated Fat and Added Sugar.
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Abstract
Background: The HealthValues Healthy Eating Programme is an online intervention that employs a novel strategy for promoting behaviour change (analysing reasons for health values) alongside other psychological principles that have been shown to influence behaviour. The programme includes dietary feedback and advice, and tasks targeting motivation (analysing reasons for health values, thinking about health-related desires and concerns), volition (implementation intentions) and maintenance (reviewing tasks, weekly ‘tips’). The current version emphasises increasing fruit and vegetable consumption and reducing intake of saturated fat and added sugar.
Objective: This study examined the effects of the programme on intake of fruit and vegetables, saturated fat and added sugar over a 6-month period.
Methods: Participants were 82 females and 18 males (mean BMI = 27.68, mean age = 39 years, 23 participants dieting to lose weight) recruited via local advertisements. Participants were allocated to an intervention or control group using a stratified randomisation protocol on the basis of dieting status (dieting versus non dieting) and fruit and vegetable consumption (5 or more a day versus less than 5 a day). Both intervention and control participants logged onto a website every week for 24 weeks to complete health-related measures, and measures assessing potential moderators and mediators. Those allocated to the intervention group also completed the intervention tasks at these sessions. Additionally, all participants attended laboratory sessions at baseline, 3 months and 6 months where they completed a food frequency questionnaire (FFQ, the Block Fat/Sugar/Fruit/Vegetable Screener, adapted for the UK) and measures of BMI and waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) were taken.
Results: Ninety-one participants completed 12 or more online sessions. Data for these participants were analysed using a series of ANOVA models. These showed a significant interaction for fruit and vegetable consumption, F(1, 89) = 4.47, p = .037, with intervention participants increasing their intake between baseline and 6 months (3.72 cups to 4.17 cups) and control participants decreasing their intake (3.59 cups to 3.36 cups). Results also showed overall reductions in saturated fat (two outliers excluded), F(1, 87) = 28.09, p < .001, and added sugar (six outliers excluded), F(1, 83) = 15.81, p < .001, between baseline and 6 months (saturated fat = 19.61g to 14.96g, sugar = 39.66g to 28.29g) but no interaction with group. Similarly, there were overall reductions in BMI (3 outliers excluded), F(1, 88) = 10.86, p = .001, BMI change = 27.48 to 27.05, and WHR, F(1, 89) = 7.17, p = .009, WHR change = 0.820 to 0.807, but no interactions with group.
Conclusions: The results indicate that the programme was effective at helping individuals increase their intake of fruit and vegetables, and sustaining these changes over a 6-month period. Further analysis of the online data should help identify mediators and moderators. Both the self-report (diet) and physiological (BMI, WHR) data also support the efficacy of simply monitoring health behaviours over time, though further research would be needed to confirm this. The online nature of the programme makes it a potentially cost-effective way of promoting healthy eating.
Objective: This study examined the effects of the programme on intake of fruit and vegetables, saturated fat and added sugar over a 6-month period.
Methods: Participants were 82 females and 18 males (mean BMI = 27.68, mean age = 39 years, 23 participants dieting to lose weight) recruited via local advertisements. Participants were allocated to an intervention or control group using a stratified randomisation protocol on the basis of dieting status (dieting versus non dieting) and fruit and vegetable consumption (5 or more a day versus less than 5 a day). Both intervention and control participants logged onto a website every week for 24 weeks to complete health-related measures, and measures assessing potential moderators and mediators. Those allocated to the intervention group also completed the intervention tasks at these sessions. Additionally, all participants attended laboratory sessions at baseline, 3 months and 6 months where they completed a food frequency questionnaire (FFQ, the Block Fat/Sugar/Fruit/Vegetable Screener, adapted for the UK) and measures of BMI and waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) were taken.
Results: Ninety-one participants completed 12 or more online sessions. Data for these participants were analysed using a series of ANOVA models. These showed a significant interaction for fruit and vegetable consumption, F(1, 89) = 4.47, p = .037, with intervention participants increasing their intake between baseline and 6 months (3.72 cups to 4.17 cups) and control participants decreasing their intake (3.59 cups to 3.36 cups). Results also showed overall reductions in saturated fat (two outliers excluded), F(1, 87) = 28.09, p < .001, and added sugar (six outliers excluded), F(1, 83) = 15.81, p < .001, between baseline and 6 months (saturated fat = 19.61g to 14.96g, sugar = 39.66g to 28.29g) but no interaction with group. Similarly, there were overall reductions in BMI (3 outliers excluded), F(1, 88) = 10.86, p = .001, BMI change = 27.48 to 27.05, and WHR, F(1, 89) = 7.17, p = .009, WHR change = 0.820 to 0.807, but no interactions with group.
Conclusions: The results indicate that the programme was effective at helping individuals increase their intake of fruit and vegetables, and sustaining these changes over a 6-month period. Further analysis of the online data should help identify mediators and moderators. Both the self-report (diet) and physiological (BMI, WHR) data also support the efficacy of simply monitoring health behaviours over time, though further research would be needed to confirm this. The online nature of the programme makes it a potentially cost-effective way of promoting healthy eating.
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