Effectiveness of translating healthy balanced diet guidelines into daily practice to reduce the risk of non-communicable diseases

Purpose:The growing burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in low-and middleincome countries highlights the need for scalable dietary interventions.Despite established nutritional guidelines, a substantial gap remains in translating theoretical knowledge into sustainable dietary behavior change.This study evaluated the efficacy of a structured, 12-mission healthy balanced diet (HBD) program designed to promote practical dietary behavior modification among working-age adults.Methods: One hundred participants aged 19-59 years completed this 12-week quasiexperimental study.The participants were assigned to either the intervention group (n = 50), which received a nutritional training session and the 12-mission HBD program, or the control group (n = 50), which continued their habitual lifestyle.The dietary intake and mission adherence were monitored biweekly.Anthropometric, metabolic, and nutrition-related knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) outcomes were assessed at the baseline and week 12. Statistical analyses examined the within-and between-group differences using an intention-to-treat approach.Results: At 12 weeks (67% retention), the intervention group showed stable mission adherence (all p > 0.05) and significant improvements in health-related practices (p = 0.013).Although the between-group differences in metabolic markers and KAP scores were nonsignificant (all p > 0.05), the intervention group showed significant within-group reductions in body weight (p = 0.017) and body mass index (p = 0.015).Conversely, only the control group showed significant improvement in the fasting blood glucose levels (p = 0.035).Conclusion: Structured behavioral missions facilitate the formation of nutrition habits.Nevertheless, the lack of significant inter-group metabolic divergence suggests that individual-level interventions require integration with broader environmental and policylevel frameworks to enhance the clinical efficacy and sustainability of NCDs prevention.