Evaluation of the effectiveness of a nutritional health education leaflet in changing public knowledge and attitudes about eating and health

A nutritional health education leaflet EAT WELL, BE WELL was written and produced by a Wessex working party on diet and health. The leaflet's effectiveness in changing people's knowledge about, and attitudes towards, healthy eating was evaluated by means of a postal survey. Half of a random sample of electors were sent the nutritional leaflet. A few weeks later, the whole sample were sent a short 'Eating and Health' questionnaire. There was a 62 per cent response rate, with no significant difference between the group who had previously received the leaflet and the group who had not.
The mean scores on the factual questions did not differ significantly between the two groups, providing little evidence that the nutritional leaflet increased public knowledge. The evaluation suggests that the mass distribution of this leaflet is not an effective method of health education.
The survey did indicate that previous nutrition education has successfully put across the message to eat less sugar, fat and salt, and more fibre. It also showed, however, that there is still confusion about some aspects of healthy eating, including the place of starchy foods in the diet.