Follow-up of a web-based tailored intervention promoting the Mediterranean diet in Scotland

ObjectiveTo assess the impact of a 3-month follow-up of a 6-month quasi-experimental study conducted to evaluate a web-based, tailored-feedback intervention promoting four key components of the Mediterranean diet.MethodsFifty-three (intervention) and nineteen (control) healthy females, 25–55 years, employed at two Universities in Glasgow, Scotland, between 2003 and 2004 participated. Participants received tailored dietary and psychosocial feedback and Internet education, or minimal dietary feedback and general healthy-eating brochures, respectively. Dietary intake using 7d-estimated food diaries and blood lipids were assessed at baseline, 6 (post-test) and 9 months (follow-up).ResultsIntention-to-treat analyses for between-group comparisons over time showed that the intervention group had increased their vegetable intake over 9 months and had more favourable levels of HDL-cholesterol and ratio of total:HDL-cholesterol over the 9-month assessment, compared with the control group. Within-group comparisons showed that, except for fruit consumption, the intervention group sustained their dietary improvement at 9 months, compared with baseline.ConclusionThis intervention proved successful at sustaining most of the favourable dietary and blood lipid profile changes achieved over the 6-month intervention at the 3-month follow-up.Practice implicationsThis intervention can be effective in promoting a Mediterranean-style diet in work settings.