Effect of 1 Year E-mail Nutrition Education after Face-to-Face Encounter at Worksite: Changes in Cardiovascular Risk Factors

ABSTRACT

Effective nutrition educations for prevention of chronic diseases for the general population are of great importance these days. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of nutrition education for cardiovascular risk factor reduction by e-mail education in male workers. The participants were divided into three groups by age; 28-39 age group, 40-49 age group, and 50-59 age group who got regular checkups for anthropometry and biochemistry. The 1 year program consisted of 15 topics containing information about metabolic syndrome (MS) and healthy eating behavior (intake of salt, fat and alcohol). Seven hundred thirty nine participants volunteered for the study [28-39 age group, n = 240; body mass index (BMI) = 24.9 +/- 2.7 kg/m2 40' group, n = 276; BMI = 24.8 +/- 2.6 kg/m2 50' group, n = 223; BMI = 24.9 +/- 2.7 kg/m2]. Percentage body fat (p<0.05) and percentage of abdominal fat (p<0.05), total cholesterol (p<0.05), systolic blood pressure (p<0.05), and diastolic blood pressure (p<0.05) were significantly decreased in all participants after the 1 year program. The total number of participants who had MS was decreased from 216 to 199 and especially the incidence of MS was decreased 27% in the group of subjects who were under the age 39. The e-mail worksite nutrition education program shows a substantial contribution to the development of effective CVD and chronic disease control and lifestyle nutrition educations that are applicable to and attractive for the large population at risk.