O-70 Sociodemographic correlations of change in food literacy following an education intervention: findings from the BALANCE study

Methods: Participants were recruited from three sites in Barbados - Mount of Praise (MOP) Church, Heart and Stroke Foundation of Barbados (HFSB) and Maria Holder Diabetes Centre (MHDC). The two-part education session was delivered live by facilitators. Sociodemographic and food literacy data were collected pre-, immediately postand 6 weeks post-education.

Results: Forty-two participants (17 males, 25 females) completed the surveys. Forty-eight percent were from MOP, 40% from HSFB and 12% from MHDC. The majority (66%) were in the 55–64 and 65–54 age groups. Forty-three percent had a history of type-2 diabetes. All had at least a high school education. Thirty-eight percent had a monthly household income of <BDS$2500, 38% earned between $2500 and $5500 and 24% earned ≥$5500. There was significant change in the food literacy score post intervention [mean(sd) (13.6(3.8) to 16.9 (3.7) to 19.2 (3.1); p<0.0001] with the MOP 'community group' having a significantly higher education score than the combined HSFB / MHDC 'clinc group' [14.6 (3.3) vs 12.4 (4.0_; p=0.04]. This difference was not evident at the post-education timepoint [16.3(3.9) vs 17.5(3.5); p=0.2]. There was no difference in scores when stratified by age, sex, diabetes status, income or education level. The correlatio between perceived literacy and actual literacy increased post-education reaching significance at 6 weeks r=0.4, 95% CI 0.02 to 0.19, p=0.02.

Conclusion: Baseline scores were higher in the community group however BALANCE was effective at increasing food literacy scores across diverse participant groups.