The Effectiveness of the Food4Health Smart Program for the Health of overweight and obese Thais Working-Age

Abstract

Chronic non-communicable diseases, or NCDs, are the leading cause of death among Thais working-age and tends to increase. The main cause of the issue is excessive eating habits, eat sweet, oily, salty food and not eating enough vegetables and fruits. These cause overweight and obesity and result in NCDs. This research was aimed to study the effects of using the Food4Health smart nutrition program on health behavior and health status of overweight and obese Thais working-age and their satisfaction with using the program. The population is the working age group aged 19 - 59 years all over the country. The sample was obtained from multi-stage random sampling, consisting of Thai people working age aged 19 - 59 years, a group of 105 people who used the program for 3 months, and a group that did not use the program, total 109 people, both groups living in the upper northern region (Chiang Mai Province), lower northern region (Phitsanulok Province), central region (Ratchaburi Province), northeastern region (Khon Kaen Province) and southern region (Nakhon Si Thammarat Province). The research design was a quasi-experimental study with two groups. Nutritional status was assessed and quantitative data was collected using questionnaires before and after using the program: health behavior information, body mass index, waist circumference, blood pressure, High-Density Lipoprotein (HDL-C), Low-Density Lipoprotein (LDL-C), triglycerides and accumulated sugar levels in the blood by HbA1C testing. Data were analyzed using statistics: percentage, mean, standard deviation, Paired Sample T Test and Independent Sample T Test conducted between November 2022 - May 2023. The results found that the sample group that used the program had an average health behavior score increase from 70.90 points to 73.00 points (p-value =0.001) and the average diastolic blood pressure decreased from 77.48 mmHg to 75.17 mmHg (p-value =0.026). For the group that did not use the program, HDL-C decreased from 53.86 mg/dL to 51.77 mg/dL (p-value =0.002). The average accumulated sugar levels HbA1C increased from 5.80% to 6.03% (p-value =0.031), otherwise unchanged. The sample group that used the program was 76.6 percent satisfied, showing that the Food4Health smart nutrition program has an impact on the health behavior and health of Thais working-age. Suggestions: Propose to the Department of Health and related agencies to publicize working people to use this program to change eating behavior appropriately to cover the entire country.