Effectiveness of the implementation of educational programs on healthy nutrition, implemented within the framework of the Demography national project

Introduction. Within the Demography National Project, the Federal Service for Supervision in Protection of the Rights of Consumer and Man Wellbeing (Rospotrebnadzor) performs specific activities aimed at creating an environment that raises people’s awareness about health diets. The number of people who have been educated on the matter represented an index of the key performance, unfortunately, it does not show whether any socially significant results have been achieved, first of all, concerning health protection. The aim of this study is to suggest a complex approach to assessing effectiveness of introduction of educational programs on health diets implemented within the Demography National Project. Materials and methods. Effectiveness of educational activities was assessed using the data obtained following the introduction of The Educational Program for Population Residing in Specific Areas as regards Environmental Exposures (macro- and micro-nutrient deficiency, specific climatic conditions) (hereinafter called The Program). The program was implemented relying on an educational resource for distance learning between April 2021 and May 2024. The obtained data was analyzed by using non-parametric statistical techniques. Health status was analyzed using data on incidence associated with unhealthy diets. Economic efficiency was estimated in conformity with the established methodology. Results. A complex approach is suggested to assess whether implementation of educational programs is effective. It includes such characteristics as a number of people, who mastered a program; level of attained knowledge and its trend; modelling a relationship that involves determining how many disease cases have been prevented; as well as economic efficiency assessment. Using one Program as an example, we analyzed such indices as the percentage of population who mastered it; their initial and attained level of knowledge (according to data obtained by control activities); the percentage of people with positive trend in the level of attained knowledge (per the results of individual check-ups). In addition to that, we calculated the number of prevented diseases associated with unhealthy diets (four hundred seventy two diseases of the musculoskeletal system) with the following assessment of implemented activities per economic indices (not less than 41.5 million rubles of the gross domestic product (GDP) losses prevented annually). Limitations. When analyzing how many people mastered the program, we relied on data about introduction of the program based on using only one communication channel. Conclusion. Use of this complex approach to assessing effectiveness of implementation of educational programs on healthy diets makes it possible to clearly show whether short-term goals (percentages of people with positive trend in the level of attained knowledge are the most informative index) as well as long-term ones (incidence associated with unhealthy diets) have been successfully achieved. It also allows estimating economic efficiency of implemented activities.