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Nutrients
Volume 14
Issue 23
10.3390/nu14234980
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Article

The Effect of Food Vouchers and an Educational Intervention on Promoting Healthy Eating in Vulnerable Families: A Pilot Study

by
María L. Miguel-Berges
1,2,3,4,
Andrea Jimeno-Martínez
1,2,
Alicia Larruy-García
1,2,
Luis A. Moreno
1,2,3,4,
Gerardo Rodríguez
1,2,3 and
Isabel Iguacel
1,2,3,4,*
1
Growth, Exercise, Nutrition and Development (GENUD) Research Group, University of Zaragoza, C/Pedro Cerbuna 12, 50009 Zaragoza, Spain
2
Instituto Agroalimentario de Aragón, 50013 Zaragoza, Spain
3
Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria Aragón (IIS Aragón), 50009 Zaragoza, Spain
4
Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Fisiopatología de la Obesidad y Nutrición (CIBEROBN), 50009 Zaragoza, Spain
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Nutrients 2022, 14(23), 4980; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu14234980
Submission received: 8 November 2022 / Revised: 18 November 2022 / Accepted: 21 November 2022 / Published: 23 November 2022
(This article belongs to the Section Nutritional Policies and Education for Health Promotion)
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Abstract

Cost has been reported as the main barrier to healthy eating in vulnerable groups. We aimed to evaluate the effect of a nutrition education intervention on adherence to Mediterranean Diet and health when providing food vouchers. This pilot study has a randomized control trial design. We included 66 vulnerable users from the Red Cross of Zaragoza (Spain). Intervention and control group individuals received 120 euros/month of food vouchers over 3 months to be spent in supermarkets (60 euros/month if under 12 y) plus a 10-week nutrition education program for the intervention group. Family food purchases were assessed using electronically recorded supermarket-obtained transactions. During and at the end of the intervention the percentage of healthy food was higher in the intervention than in the control group. Once the nutrition education was over, differences between groups dissipated. In the intervention group, health parameters improved, particularly weight-status, lipids, and liver enzymes. Control participants gained weight, although lipid and liver enzymes improved. Blood pressure and HbA1c did not improve in either the intervention or the control group. In conclusion, providing unrestricted food vouchers to vulnerable groups to increase healthy food consumption appears to be insufficient and should be accompanied by medium-long term nutrition education.
Keywords: vulnerable groups; nutrition education intervention; food vouchers; obesity; health; healthy eating vulnerable groups; nutrition education intervention; food vouchers; obesity; health; healthy eating

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MDPI and ACS Style

Miguel-Berges, M.L.; Jimeno-Martínez, A.; Larruy-García, A.; Moreno, L.A.; Rodríguez, G.; Iguacel, I. The Effect of Food Vouchers and an Educational Intervention on Promoting Healthy Eating in Vulnerable Families: A Pilot Study. Nutrients 2022, 14, 4980. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu14234980

AMA Style

Miguel-Berges ML, Jimeno-Martínez A, Larruy-García A, Moreno LA, Rodríguez G, Iguacel I. The Effect of Food Vouchers and an Educational Intervention on Promoting Healthy Eating in Vulnerable Families: A Pilot Study. Nutrients. 2022; 14(23):4980. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu14234980

Chicago/Turabian Style

Miguel-Berges, María L., Andrea Jimeno-Martínez, Alicia Larruy-García, Luis A. Moreno, Gerardo Rodríguez, and Isabel Iguacel. 2022. "The Effect of Food Vouchers and an Educational Intervention on Promoting Healthy Eating in Vulnerable Families: A Pilot Study" Nutrients 14, no. 23: 4980. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu14234980

APA Style

Miguel-Berges, M. L., Jimeno-Martínez, A., Larruy-García, A., Moreno, L. A., Rodríguez, G., & Iguacel, I. (2022). The Effect of Food Vouchers and an Educational Intervention on Promoting Healthy Eating in Vulnerable Families: A Pilot Study. Nutrients, 14(23), 4980. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu14234980

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