Comparison of two nutrition education approaches to reduce dietary fat intake and serum lipids reveals registered dietitians are effective at disseminating information regardless of the educational approach.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to compare an educational approach based on the Stages of Change Model with usual care education in reducing dietary fat intake and serum lipids in individuals with hyperlipidemia.

Design: A 40-week randomized control study was conducted. Four education sessions were provided on an outpatient basis during a 1-month period with follow-up every 6 weeks.

Participants: The sample consisted of 141 men and women with hyperlipidemia (mean age 50+/-11 years and a mean body mass index of 30+/-6) randomly assigned to one of two education interventions.

Intervention: The stages of change group was provided with tailored dietary activities based on their readiness to change to reduce dietary fat intake. Dietary information and activities for the usual care program were developed for those individuals ready to make a change in their diets.

Main Outcome Measures: Serum lipids, anthropometric measures, readiness to change, dietary intake, and exercise data were assessed at baseline, 4, 16, 28, and 40 weeks.

Statistical Analyses: A repeated measures analysis of variance was used to compare differences between groups across time.

Results: Total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and body weight decreased significantly at 4 weeks (P<0.05) for both groups and were sustained over time, with no differences between the groups.

Conclusions: The stages of change education approach was not more effective than the usual care education approach in decreasing dietary fat intake and serum lipids in a classroom setting.