This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Request Permissions Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Stern, M. P. Articles by Russell, S. H. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Stern, M. P. Articles by Russell, S. H.

Circulation, Vol 54, 826-833, Copyright © 1976 by American Heart Association

ARTICLES

Results of a two-year health education campaign on dietary behavior. The Stanford Three Community Study

MP Stern, JW Farquhar, N McCoby and SH Russell

A two-year, bilingual mass-media health education campaign was carried out in two communities with a third serving as control. In one of the two treated communities, personal couseling of high risk individuals ("intensive instruction") took place. Dietary behavior, before and after the campaigns, was assessed using a dietary questionnaire which estimated the average daily consumption by participants of cholesterol, saturated fat, and polyunsaturated fat. Both intensive instruction and the mass-media campaigns led to significant reductions (20-40%) in cholesterol and saturated fat consumption in both men and women, with intensively instructed men tending to outperform men exposed to mass- media alone. In general, the improvements in the treated communities were maintained over the two years of the study, whereas the initial small drops in the control community at the end of the first year were followed by recidivism during the second year. Polyunsaturated fat consumption fell slightly in all three communities so that increases in P/S ratios in the two treated communities were of only modest degree. Mean changes in plasma cholesterol concentration for the various cohorts under study were higly correlated with those which would have been predicted on the basis of the self-reported changes in dietary behavior. The results indicate that mass-media health education campaigns can lead to significant changes in dietary practices in the general population with potentially important public health implications.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				W. Demark-Wahnefried, E. C. Clipp, M. C. Morey, C. F. Pieper, R. Sloane, D. C. Snyder, and H. J. Cohen Lifestyle Intervention Development Study to Improve Physical Function in Older Adults With Cancer: Outcomes From Project LEAD J. Clin. Oncol., July 20, 2006; 24(21): 3465 - 3473. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				M. E. Faulstich and K. M. Hutchinson Behavioral Medicine in Primary Prevention: Addictive Behaviors and Dietary Factors Eval Health Prof, September 1, 1987; 10(3): 287 - 303. [Abstract] [PDF]

				W. C. TAYLOR, T. M. PASS, D. S. SHEPARD, and A. L. KOMAROFF Cholesterol Reduction and Life Expectancy: A Model Incorporating Multiple Risk Factors Ann Intern Med, April 1, 1987; 106(4): 605 - 614. [Abstract] [PDF]

				C. W. White, M. A. Albanese, E. Anderson, and R. M. Caplan Effective Cardiovascular Health Education in the Young: An Elusive Goal Eval Health Prof, October 1, 1978; 1(3): 57 - 70. [Abstract] [PDF]

				L Breslow Risk factor intervention for health maintenance Science, May 26, 1978; 200(4344): 908 - 912. [Abstract] [PDF]