The Effect of a Short Message-Based Nutrition Education Intervention on Employees’ Knowledge and Practice in Terms of Adopting the Methods of Inhibition of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons Formation in the Cooked Meat

Abstract

The present study was undertaken to examine the effect of a short message-based (SMS) nutrition education intervention on the employees’ knowledge and practice in terms of adopting the methods of inhibition of the formation of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the cooked meat. The quasi-experimental study was conducted among 128 employees at Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran, during May 2017–Jan 2018. One faculty was randomly assigned to a control group and the other was assigned to an intervention group. Then, 64 employees of each faculty were randomly selected. Information (data) was collected by a questionnaire. Information (data) regarding knowledge and practice regarding the methods of inhibition of PAHs formation in the cooked meat was collected by a researcher-made questionnaire. Twenty six short messages were designed and sent to the participants’ phones in the intervention group during the 26-day intervention period. Two groups were followed-up two months after the intervention delivered via SMS. Following the intervention delivered via SMS, there were significant differences in the participants’ knowledge and also their practice regarding the methods of controlling cooking procedure for the inhibition of PAHs formation in the cooked meat in the intervention group compared to the control group. In addition, there was no significant difference in the meat preparation techniques used between the groups after the intervention. Developing SMS-based interventions may improve the knowledge and practice of the individuals to control the cooking procedure to prevent/reduce PAHs in the cooked meat.