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Abstract Background Dietary Guidelines for Saudis are offered and promoted in two forms: the Healthy Food Palm and the Saudi Healthy Plate. However, public awareness, recognition, and engagement with these guidelines is not well studied. Understanding the factors behind dietary guideline promotion, awareness, recognition, and use may lead to greater optimization of and engagement with the guidelines. This study aims to assess recognition of and public engagement with the My Palm and My Plate dietary guidelines as well as dietary guideline awareness, perceptions, and preferences among Saudis. Methods To compare awareness, knowledge, and usability between the Healthy Food Palm and the Saudi Healthy Plate dietary guidelines, a cross-sectional survey-based study was conducted among Saudi adult males and females above 18 (n = 674) between October 2021 and January 2022. Participants were split into groups based on age and gender. T-test and χ2 tests were used to determine differences between groups for continuous and categorical variables, respectively. Results Most participants were unaware of the Healthy Food Palm and the Saudi Healthy Plate guidelines, with only 11.1% and 30.3% able to recognize guideline-associated visual illustrations, respectively. However, nearly half of the participants correctly identified the number of food groups in the Healthy Food Palm and Saudi Healthy Plate. As well, more than half of the sample preferred the Saudi Healthy Plate, while one-quarter of the sample preferred neither guideline. In terms of future public health promotion, participants identified that “convenience and availability” (29.6%) and “my own health” (28.6%) were the most influential dietary choice factors with “social media campaigns” (2.4%) and the involvement of “an influencer” (3.1%) being the least influential dietary choice factors. Conclusions Implementation of and public awareness of dietary guidelines is less than optimal, and opportunities exist for greater information dissemination and public engagement. Measurement and ongoing evaluation of public dietary guideline awareness and use and a more in-depth understanding of dietary choice influences and behaviors are important considerations for dietary guideline development and promotion.

Background: Dietary Guidelines for Saudis are offered and promoted in two forms: the Healthy Food Palm and the Saudi Healthy Plate. However, public awareness, recognition, and engagement with these guidelines is not well studied. Understanding the factors behind dietary guideline promotion, awareness, recognition, and use may lead to greater optimization of and engagement with the guidelines. This study aims to assess recognition of and public engagement with the My Palm and My Plate dietary guidelines as well as dietary guideline awareness, perceptions, and preferences among Saudis. Methods: To compare awareness, knowledge, and usability between the Healthy Food Palm and the Saudi Healthy Plate dietary guidelines, a cross-sectional survey-based study was conducted among Saudi adult males and females above 18 (n = 674) between October 2021 and January 2022. Participants were split into groups based on age and gender. T-test and χ2 tests were used to determine differences between groups for continuous and categorical variables, respectively. Results: Most participants were unaware of the Healthy Food Palm and the Saudi Healthy Plate guidelines, with only 11.1% and 30.3% able to recognize guideline-associated visual illustrations, respectively. However, nearly half of the participants correctly identified the number of food groups in the Healthy Food Palm and Saudi Healthy Plate. As well, more than half of the sample preferred the Saudi Healthy Plate, while one-quarter of the sample preferred neither guideline. In terms of future public health promotion, participants identified that "convenience and availability" (29.6%) and "my own health" (28.6%) were the most influential dietary choice factors with "social media campaigns" (2.4%) and the involvement of "an influencer" (3.1%) being the least influential dietary choice factors. Conclusions: Implementation of and public awareness of dietary guidelines is less than optimal, and opportunities exist for greater information dissemination and public engagement. Measurement and ongoing evaluation of public dietary guideline awareness and use and a more in-depth understanding of dietary choice influences and behaviors are important considerations for dietary guideline development and promotion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Background Chile has suffered a fast increase in childhood obesity in the last 10 years. As a result, several school programmes have been implemented, however the effectiveness of these needs to be evaluated to identify and prioritize strategies to curve this trend. Methods Cluster randomized controlled trial. Twelve primary public schools chosen at random over three regions of the country will take part in this study. The sample size consisted of a total of 1,655 children. For each region one school will be selected for each of the three nutritional intervention modes and one school will be selected as the control group. The intervention modes consist of the following: Healthy Kiosk and nutritional education (KSEAN); Optimized physical activity (AFSO); Healthy Kiosk and nutritional education (KSEAN) + optimized physical activity (AFSO); Control group. The effectiveness of each intervention will be evaluated by determining the nutritional condition of each child by measuring percentage of body fat, BMI and the z-score of the BMI. This study will also identify the eating behaviours, nutritional knowledge and fitness of each child, along with the effective time of moderate activity during physical education classes. Discussion A protocol to evaluate the effectiveness of a school based intervention to control and/or reduce the rates of childhood obesity for children between 6 and 10 years of age was developed. The protocol was developed in line with the Declaration of Helsinski, the Nüremberg Code and the University of Chile Guidelines for ethical committees, and was approved by the INTA, Universidad de Chile ethical committee on Wednesday 12 March 2014. There is consensus among researchers and health and education personnel that schools are a favourable environment for actions to prevent and/or control childhood obesity. However a lack of evidence on the effectiveness of interventions to date has led some to question the wisdom of allocating resources to programmes. This is the first study of this kind in Chile and could be an important first step to provide guidance to political authorities in relation to which food and nutrition strategies to prioritize to curve this alarming trend. Trial registration ISRCTN32136790 , registered retrospectively on 05 September 2014.

Background: Chile has suffered a fast increase in childhood obesity in the last 10 years. As a result, several school programmes have been implemented, however the effectiveness of these needs to be evaluated to identify and prioritize strategies to curve this trend., Methods: Cluster randomized controlled trial. Twelve primary public schools chosen at random over three regions of the country will take part in this study. The sample size consisted of a total of 1,655 children. For each region one school will be selected for each of the three nutritional intervention modes and one school will be selected as the control group. The intervention modes consist of the following: Healthy Kiosk and nutritional education (KSEAN); Optimized physical activity (AFSO); Healthy Kiosk and nutritional education (KSEAN) + optimized physical activity (AFSO); Control group. The effectiveness of each intervention will be evaluated by determining the nutritional condition of each child by measuring percentage of body fat, BMI and the z-score of the BMI. This study will also identify the eating behaviours, nutritional knowledge and fitness of each child, along with the effective time of moderate activity during physical education classes., Discussion: A protocol to evaluate the effectiveness of a school based intervention to control and/or reduce the rates of childhood obesity for children between 6 and 10 years of age was developed. The protocol was developed in line with the Declaration of Helsinski, the Nüremberg Code and the University of Chile Guidelines for ethical committees, and was approved by the INTA, Universidad de Chile ethical committee on Wednesday 12 March 2014. There is consensus among researchers and health and education personnel that schools are a favourable environment for actions to prevent and/or control childhood obesity. However a lack of evidence on the effectiveness of interventions to date has led some to question the wisdom of allocating resources to programmes. This is the first study of this kind in Chile and could be an important first step to provide guidance to political authorities in relation to which food and nutrition strategies to prioritize to curve this alarming trend., Trial Registration: ISRCTN32136790 , registered retrospectively on 05 September 2014.