Implementation and evaluation of an educational intervention to prevent risk factors for the development of non-communicable diseases in Mexican families of suburban communities

Non-communicable diseases (NCD), are not transmitted from person to person, are long-lasting and usually of slow evolution. Worldwide cause 71% deaths, in Mexico during 2016 were the cause of 80% of registered deaths; population in socioeconomic disadvantage is more vulnerable. It is urgent to develop strategies that can prevent NCD, thus, the objective of this study was to design, implement and evaluate an educational intervention strategy (EI), to prevent and control risk factors for the development NCD in families of two vulnerable communities. The research design was mixed, the stages were developed based on a risk communication (RC) model and was performed in three stages: 1) EI Design, 2) Implementation and 3) Evaluation of the intervention. In the contextualization, risk factors were found in the participants who were integrated in the design of the educational strategy. The EI implemented was effective in increasing knowledge about NCD and practice of healthy habits, such as increasing the consumption of fruits and vegetables. Additionally, the guidance of EI at the family level has the advantage of creating a support network for these changes. However, pending issues remain, such as the design of effective strategies to reduce the consumption of sugars and sugary drinks. •Contextualization was essential to design the community educational intervention (EI).•After EI, an increase was observed in the consumption of fruits and vegetables, as well as in knowledge about non-communicable diseases.•Other risk factors were not affected by EI, however, the long-term impacts are unknown and it would be relevant to analyze them in the future.•Healthy habits require an enabling environment, with healthy, accessible, and available food and physical activity options.•The use of different evaluation tools (mixed research) during the EI process allowed the triangulation of the results.