Effect of Face-to-Face Education on Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices Toward "Traffic Light" Food Labeling in Isfahan Society, Iran.

Emerging noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) with premature mortality are one of the major concerns in health supervising organizations of the world. High intake of energy, salt, sugar, fat, and trans fatty acids are introduced as dietary risk factors of NCDs. The status of food risk factors is presented in Traffic Light (TL) food labeling through colors of red, yellow, and green as the signs of stop, wait and watch and go, respectively. This stepwise interventional study examined whether TL education can result in choosing healthier food via assessing the impact of face-to-face educational sessions on knowledge, attitudes, and practices of 673 respondents toward TL food labeling through a self-administered and structured questionnaire. Paired t test or alternatively Wilcoxon test was used to evaluate the influence of education in total scores of knowledge, attitudes, and practices in test-retest. Results indicated that before education, the average of the scores for the knowledge, attitudes, and practices was 1.003 ± 0.69, 10.97 ± 1.86, and 1.60 ± 1.84, respectively. After education, the scores were increased to 8.72 ± 3.11, 15.95 ± 2.64, and 8.42 ± 1.69. Significant differences in the scores of the respondents were observed before and after education (p < .05). This study revealed that the intervention of education had positive effect on the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of the studied population. Even though general awareness about the food risk factors of NCDs existed, special education is required to make public TL and food labeling information usage as an actual guidance for every food item in Iran.

A high school-based education concerning drug abuse prevention.

OBJECTIVE: There is increasing evidence for declining the onset age of drug abuse worldwide. This study was conducted to investigate the effectiveness of four educational methods including lecture, presentation of poster and leaflet, presentation of video clip, and group/class discussion for life skills training and changing in knowledge and attitude of adolescents toward drug abuse. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In a pretest-posttest design, a sample of 897 girl and boy high school students from the first grade (14-15 years old) were involved in this cross-sectional study conducted in Isfahan, Iran. After collection of pretest questionnaires, each educational method was implemented separately for one class in one session (3 h) in each high school, and evaluation was carried out immediately after intervention through posttest questionnaires by the same students. RESULTS: According to paired t-test, the video clip- and lecture-based methods were significantly efficient in changing the attitudes toward drug abuse in boy and girl students, respectively. Analysis of covariance showed significant differences between girls and boys in pretest-posttest attitude scores using group discussion-based and video clip-based methods. CONCLUSION: Life skills training program through lecture-based and video clip-based educational methods was considerably effective in changing the high school students' attitude toward drug abuse and addiction.

A school-based education concerning poisoning prevention in Isfahan, Iran.

BACKGROUND: A school-based poisoning prevention program for young school children was implemented and evaluated in Isfahan city by Poison Control Center (PCC) of Food and Drug Deputy in 2010. OBJECTIVES: The aim of the program was to evaluate the effectiveness of education on children's knowledge on poisoning and its consequence and also on their attitude in case of exposure to poisonous or hazardous substances and poisoned patient. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In a pretest-posttest design, samples of 520 students from the fifth grade (10-11 years old), from twenty randomly selected girls' and boys' primary schools were involved in the study. These children were from two different geographical locations with different socio-economical levels (high-income and middle-income). After collection of pretest questionnaires, 6 poisoning education sessions were implemented in selected schools by trained teachers in a week. RESULTS: Following the education program, knowledge on various issues of poisoning significantly improved as did attitude to the poisonous agents and poisoned patients. In girl students, strong increase was found in knowledge on poisoning with carbon monoxide and heating devices from pretest to posttest. While in boy students, the strongest increase was in item of knowledge on poisoning prevention. Children living in the regions with middle-income conditions had more base-line knowledge and attitudinal aspect when compared with children with high-income condition. Comparison of all students showed significant differences (P < 0.001) on knowledge scores on various issues of poisoning before and after education. CONCLUSION: The school-based educational programs provide a good opportunity to poison information centers in preventing poisoning.