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The purpose of this study is to determine how transtheoretical model (TTM) constructions change through nutrition education for fat intake modification among overweight and obese women living in Shazand city, Iran.

A semi-experimental design with intervention and control groups (50 women in each group) was performed. TTM constructions for dietary fat intake were measured through a questionnaire in four phases: before the intervention, immediately, one month and six months after the intervention. Participants in two groups were classified into inactive and active subgroups, based on their determined stage of change. Then in the intervention group, each subgroup received a separate education program of five or eight sessions for the active and inactive subgroups, respectively.

The intervention resulted in significant progress in participants' stage of change compared to the control group (p = 0.002). Also, it resulted in an increase in the self-efficacy and decisional balance scores in both of the intervention subgroups, with these effects being more pronounced in the inactive subgroup, and these significant differences, compared to the control group, remained in the third and fourth phases. The intervention also positively impacted the behavioral processes, but this effect was not so long-lasting and decreased after six months.

The results indicated the intervention effectiveness and the necessity of planning educational interventions to change fat consumption behavior. This study provides further insight into effective and sustainable nutrition education strategies based on behavioral change stages rather than traditional approaches. These methods should be used to design group interventions to change individuals' health behavior in future works.

During the past few decades, production and marketing of functional foods has increased in many countries including Iran. Considering the fact that consumers’ preferences play an important role in the success of marketing a product to increase consumption, this study aims to fill the knowledge gap in this regard in Iran.

The theory of social marketing served as the framework of this study. Qualitative data were collected via eight semi-structured focus group discussions, between May and September 2014. Participants were 65 women (44 housewives and 21 employed women), aged 23-68 years, selected by purposeful sampling technique, considering maximum diversity. All focus group discussions were audio recorded and transcribed verbatim. Analysis of the qualitative content of the data was conducted using MAXQDA® software.

The findings showed that there were quite diverse preferences among studied women in regards to different aspects of a product and its social marketing strategies. The preferences toward functional dairy products were categorized in four main groups: characteristics of products including sensory and non-sensory characteristics; price; place of the product supply; and promotion strategies of products categorized in three subgroups of informing and educating, advertising and recommending.

This study is the first study in this regard in Iran. Given the novelty of functional dairy products in the market, the diversity of preferences should be considered both in production of dairy foods and their promotion plans. This understanding can contribute to success of interventions to increase consumption of these products among consumers.

Functional dairy products market has been growing steadily in Iran. Awareness and perception related to these products has an important role in consumers’ acceptance and subsequently long-term marketplace success of these products. The purpose of this paper is to fill the knowledge gap in this regard, study conducted in Iran.

The theory of social marketing served as the framework of the study. Qualitative data were collected via eight semi-structured focus group discussions (FGDs), between May and September 2014. Participants were 65 women (44 housewives and 21 employed women), aged 23-68 years, selected by purposive sampling, with a maximum diversity. All FGDs were audio recorded and transcribed verbatim. Qualitative content analysis of the data was conducted by MAXQDA®.

Almost all participants were unfamiliar with the term “functional dairy products,” although, some of them had consumed these products. Apart from perceiving the functional dairy products as unnecessary by some participants, some women did not trust in health claims of these products for various reasons such as distrust in food manufacturers, exposure to contradictory information, and fear of unforeseen and dangerous side effects due to taking them. The participants agreed on the need for more information from a trusted and credible source such as health professionals or authorities through different communication channels like television, training classes, shopping center, and so on.

This study provides a unique insight into consumers’ awareness and perceptions concerning functional dairy products in Iran. To the best of the knowledge, this study is the first study in this regard in Iran. Given the novelty of these products in the market, the findings could provide information for the dairy industry to expand its market and improve its profitability and reliability, as well as public health sector to design and implement intervention programs to promote functional dairy products consumption in the population.