Growth, Exercise, Nutrition and Development (GENUD) Research Group, University of Zaragoza, C/Pedro Cerbuna 12, 50009 Zaragoza, Spain.
Instituto Agroalimentario de Aragón, 50013 Zaragoza, Spain.
Nutrients. 2022 Nov 23;14(23):4980. doi: 10.3390/nu14234980.
Cost has been reported as the main barrier to healthy eating in vulnerable groups. We aimed to evaluate the effect of a nutrition education intervention on adherence to Mediterranean Diet and health when providing food vouchers. This pilot study has a randomized control trial design. We included 66 vulnerable users from the Red Cross of Zaragoza (Spain). Intervention and control group individuals received 120 euros/month of food vouchers over 3 months to be spent in supermarkets (60 euros/month if under 12 y) plus a 10-week nutrition education program for the intervention group. Family food purchases were assessed using electronically recorded supermarket-obtained transactions. During and at the end of the intervention the percentage of healthy food was higher in the intervention than in the control group. Once the nutrition education was over, differences between groups dissipated. In the intervention group, health parameters improved, particularly weight-status, lipids, and liver enzymes. Control participants gained weight, although lipid and liver enzymes improved. Blood pressure and HbA1c did not improve in either the intervention or the control group. In conclusion, providing unrestricted food vouchers to vulnerable groups to increase healthy food consumption appears to be insufficient and should be accompanied by medium-long term nutrition education.
成本被报道为弱势群体健康饮食的主要障碍。我们旨在评估在提供食品券时，营养教育干预对坚持地中海饮食和健康的影响。这项试点研究采用随机对照试验设计。我们纳入了来自西班牙萨拉戈萨红十字会的 66 名弱势用户。干预组和对照组的个体在 3 个月内每月获得 120 欧元的食品券（如果年龄在 12 岁以下，则为 60 欧元/月），外加 10 周的营养教育计划。通过电子记录超市获得的交易来评估家庭食物购买情况。在干预期间和结束时，干预组的健康食品比例高于对照组。一旦营养教育结束，两组之间的差异就消失了。在干预组中，健康参数得到改善，特别是体重状况、血脂和肝酶。对照组参与者体重增加，但血脂和肝酶有所改善。干预组和对照组的血压和 HbA1c 均未改善。总之，向弱势群体提供无限制的食品券以增加健康食品的消费似乎是不够的，应该辅以中长期的营养教育。
