Implementation of a program of hygienic training for mechanical engineering workers on healthy nutrition issues within the framework of the national project “Demography”

Introduction. To implement the national project “Demography”, specialists of Federal Scientific Center of Hygiene named after F.F. Erisman, have created a training (educational) program on healthy nutrition for workers in difficult and harmful working conditions. The planned outcome of the program is to increase the educational qualification in matters of healthy nutrition in working collectives. The purpose of the study. To evaluate the effectiveness of using by engineering workers educational materials on healthy nutrition. Materials and methods. A study of the nutritional status and the state of actual nutrition in one hundred eight mechanical engineering workers aged 29 to 53 years with work experience in harmful working conditions for over 5 years was carried out; dynamic monitoring was carried out 6 months after the implementation of the training program on healthy nutrition. Results. In the initial study, the proportion of overweight or obese workers was 43.5%. The causes of the imbalance of the diet by the main food groups have been determined: vegetables, fruits, fish, cereals, including whole grain dishes and legumes, products with a high content of saturated fats of animal origin, products with a high glycemic index, added sugar, table salt. The calculation of the energy value and daily intake of macronutrients and vitamins was carried out. Dynamic monitoring 6 months after the start of preventive intervention showed that the structure of the nutritional status of the surveyed has changed for the better, the proportion of workers adhering to the principles of healthy nutrition has increased. At the same time, the insufficient effectiveness of the training program in terms of the content of polyunsaturated fatty acids, vitamins D, B1, B2, K in the nutrition of mechanical engineering workers was revealed. Limitations of research. The research materials are limited to the results of preventive counseling for 108 workers in mechanical engineering and a time interval of 6 months. Conclusion. The implementation of the key recommendations of the training program led to an increase in the number of employees adhering to the principles of healthy nutrition, which had a positive effect on the nutritional status in the surveyed cases.