Abstract
To date, only a few studies have provided practical evidence to support the implementation of a worksite nutrition education program in conjunction with nutrition-based environmental interventions to prevent lifestyle-related diseases, and the effectiveness of such a combined approach remains unknown. We analyzed review articles that summarized intervention studies regarding the prevention of lifestyle-related diseases, with a particular focus on the combination of a nutrition education program and nutrition-based environmental interventions, to examine whether these efforts, as well as the approaches taken in our previous practical studies, are effective in preventing lifestyle-related diseases.
Published evidence supporting the effectiveness of prevention programs for lifestyle-related diseases was extracted from a number of review articles on occupational health published in Japan and abroad, and was examined from the viewpoint of nutrition education in conjunction with nutrition-based environmental interventions. According to a review paper published abroad, which described the effects of worksite interventions on achieving healthy weights, significantly higher favorable effects were observed in the intervention studies, based on behavioral science theory and, using a multi-component approach that involved a combination of programs addressing nutrition, physical activity, and other behaviors.
Our intervention study, consisting of a nutrition education program and nutrition-based environmental interventions, also resulted in positive changes in dietary behaviors. Practical interventions often have a major role in raising health awareness among employees through nutrition education and nutrition-based environmental interventions. To make better use of a health promotion program, it is important to use practical, intervention-based approaches to identify its problems and effects for the generalization of the program to other settings.
In conclusion, collaboration between public health administration and occupational health practitioners is essential to promote the prevention of lifestyle-related diseases in Japan.
