Applying Theory of Planned Behavior to Fruit and Vegetable Consumption of Young Adolescents

Abstract. Heart transplantation is the treatment of choice for children with end-stage heart disease. Coronary artery vasculopathy is, however, a significant morbidity and leading cause of late graft loss, and hyperlipidemia a risk factor for its development. Improving diet in this population could have important benefits for patients. We wanted to understand what influences decisions about food intake in this patient group. Dietary intentions and behavior were examined using a questionnaire based on the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) with 67 children who had undergone heart transplantation at least 12 months previously. The TPB model was significant for both healthy and unhealthy dietary behaviors, explaining 55% and 38% of the variance, respectively. Ten percent of children reported not eating any fruit and/or vegetables in the previous week and only 29% reported eating fruit and/or vegetables every day. The Theory of Planned Behavior provides a framework for explaining some specific dietary behaviors related to individual food groups in children who have undergone heart transplantation. These preliminary data support using this approach to inform the development of interventions to improve fruit and vegetable consumption but the approach may be less useful for explaining and developing interventions to reduce the consumption of unhealthy foods.

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Lettuce Be Happy: The Effects of Fruit and Vegetable Consumption on Subjective Well-Being in the UK

SSRN Electronic Journal ◽

10.2139/ssrn.3211798 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Neel Ocean ◽

Peter Howley ◽

Jonathan Ensor

Keyword(s):

Vegetable Consumption ◽

Well Being ◽

Fruit And Vegetable Consumption ◽

Subjective Well Being ◽

Fruit And Vegetable ◽

The Uk

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NP19 A Supermarket Intervention to Promote Fruit and Vegetable Consumption Among Low-Income Families

Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior ◽

10.1016/j.jneb.2019.05.343 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 51 (7) ◽

pp. S18-S19

Author(s):

Michele Polacsek ◽

Alyssa Moran ◽

Anne Thorndike ◽

Rebecca Franckle ◽

Rebecca Boulos ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Low Income ◽

Vegetable Consumption ◽

Fruit And Vegetable Consumption ◽

Fruit And Vegetable ◽

Low Income Families

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Healthy eating: a matter of prioritisation by households or policymakers?

Public Health Nutrition ◽

10.1017/s1368980021000677 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-3

Author(s):

Joreintje Dingena Mackenbach

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

Healthy Eating ◽

Low Income ◽

Fruits And Vegetables ◽

Food System ◽

Vegetable Consumption ◽

Fruit And Vegetable Consumption ◽

Healthy Foods ◽

Fruit And Vegetable ◽

Decision Making Processes

Abstract I reflect upon the potential reasons why American low-income households do not spend an optimal proportion of their food budgets on fruits and vegetables, even though this would allow them to meet the recommended levels of fruit and vegetable consumption. Other priorities than health, automatic decision-making processes and access to healthy foods play a role, but solutions for the persistent socio-economic inequalities in diet should be sought in the wider food system which promotes cheap, mass-produced foods. I argue that, ultimately, healthy eating is not a matter of prioritisation by individual households but by policymakers.

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