Efficacy of Web-Based Versus Printed Nutrition Education Materials

Efficacy of Web-Based Versus Printed Nutrition Education Materials

Thanks to new technologies, nutrition educators have the opportunity to improve its outreach activities aimed at improving the health and welfare of people throughout the world. In both, developed and developing countries, communications through computer media are becoming a viable way to collect exchange and disseminate information on nutrition for professionals and the public. Stand-alone applications are those that run software without the need to establish a telephone connection, television or satellite, or through any other means of electronic transmission (Adams, Lindell, et al, 2006). They are evaluating various programs for nutritional analysis, clinical nutrition, nutrition education and nutrition aimed at the population and training of professional and paraprofessional staff. These programs have been available to users on floppy disks, CD-ROM and laser disc accompanied by flexible discs that can be accessed on a computer workstation or customer service points. Nutrition educators can participate in conferences, workshops and training meetings remotely by connecting their computers via the telephone line, satellite broadcasting and cable networks and are starting to be used communications applications, such as e-mail, Internet and World Outreach Network (World Wide Web - WWW) (Adams, Lindell, et al, 2006). In the nutrition education activities is little use of online databases, bulletin board systems, fax and noncommercial television and teleconferencing.

Nutrition educators are interested in accessing the technologies, the need for training and practice and performance make these technologies to increase knowledge and change attitudes of the population. International agencies and governments should provide an opportunity for nutrition educators to become familiar with computer technology and ensure access to nutrition education programs, computer courses and Internet and other networks to collect and share information on food and nutrition. Support is needed to disseminate effective software (Duster, Waters, 2006). It is also necessary to refine and evaluate these technologies for use in nutrition education. Nutrition education is an activity prioritized by FAO and WHO, so community programs have been implemented, training and master's degrees in many countries, given the need to educate people about eating habits. Education in nutrition is not an easy task and needs a fight against established habits, religious conceptions, cultural traditions and modifying them, which is not always possible or takes time and sometimes resources (Armstrong, Pumerantz, et al, 2005). One of the most contested interventions is community-type, in which the same people participate in decision-making and consciously accept and make changes to their eating habits.

In the era of globalization, the use of information technologies and communication technologies (ICTs) is perhaps one of the most important applications in the field of education, which has earned a legitimate space in the whole context of education at the global level (Eckel, Borra, et al, 2007). This paper tries to show the impact that can reach the use of new information technologies and communication in the implementation of the Nutrition Education, as compared with that of the use of the print media for the same ...