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The primary aim of the study was to examine the predictive relationships among personal factors (age, gender, education, income, BMI, and acculturation), barriers to healthy eating, healthy eating self-efficacy, environmental factors, and healthy eating habits among Korean Americans (KAs). The conceptual framework was adopted from Pender’s Health Promotion Model. Bivariate correlations among the study variables and hierarchical multiple regression tests were performed to determine the predictive relationships among the variables. Mediating and moderating effects were explored, as were generational differences in barriers, self-efficacy, and healthy eating habits. The study was designed as a retrospective, cross-sectional, correlational study. A nonprobability sample of 137 KAs was recruited from KA communities by the surveys in Texas, California, Georgia, Maryland, and other states. Although none of the personal factors were significantly related to healthy eating habits, some of the strength and direction of the relationships between personal factors and healthy eating habits were changed when behavior-specific cognitions and environmental factors moderated those relationships . The main finding of the study was that self-efficacy was the strongest predictor for healthy eating habits. Additional data obtained from this study was the discrepancy between confidence in reducing sodium intake and the actual sodium intake. Considering that high sodium intake is a problematic concern for Koreans and KAs, as well as for the general American population, further research is needed to identify the factors related to this concern and to improve this health issue. Also, further studies related to eating habits among KAs with a wide range of generational levels and geographic areas are necessary to gain a deeper understanding of their health and to promote healthy eating habits. / text

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This research sought to develop and test a health behaviour change intervention for overweight and inactive UK adults, aged 35-74 years, using the concept of an evolutionary mismatch to frame health information. The mismatch concept posits that human culture has evolved too rapidly for biological evolution to keep up, meaning the human body is poorly adapted to cope with the modern environment, predisposing us to chronic disorders. The first study explored whether using the mismatch concept to frame health information would be acceptable and engaging to target users. Mismatch-based text and graphic resources were shown to participants in semi-structured interviews. They had good acceptability, generated interest and seemed to provide a meaningful rationale for behaviour change. Following further development, the second study tested whether the resources could improve people's understanding of the effects of physical activity and diet on health and bring about change in theory-based cognitive determinants of behaviour. This questionnaire-based study found the resources enhanced knowledge and effected positive changes in most of the targeted cognitions. The mismatch resources were then developed into an online intervention also incorporating evidence-based behaviour change techniques. The third study evaluated this intervention in a pilot randomised controlled trial. The intervention did not lead to significantly greater improvement in physical activity or diet than a minimal intervention comparison, however the behavioural and health changes achieved in the intervention group were of meaningful effect size. Process evaluation provided partial support for hypothesised mechanisms of behaviour change. The findings suggest the mismatch concept could be a useful frame to stimulate initial interest and motivation in health interventions; combined with additional behavioural techniques this can help promote healthy lifestyle change. Further work is needed to test the efficacy of a mismatch-framed intervention among populations of different ages, ethnicities and religious beliefs.

Abstract   Emma Bergdahl Obstacles and opportunities among occupational health nurses when implementing healthy eating habits. C thesis in Public Health. Faculty of Health and Occupational Studies. University of Gävle. Autumn 2012   Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate which obstacles and opportunities nurses within occupational health find when trying to implement healthy eating habits among the employees in their respective company. Another objective was to see if the nurses worked according to the Guidelines, issued by the National Board of Health and Welfare. Method: The study was a quantitative study and conducted among nurses in central Sweden. A web survey was distributed to nurses who chose to participate. The response rate was 66 percent. The results were compiled in Excel since the characters and results are displayed in the form of figures, text and quotes. Results: The results showed that the most common obstacles found by nurses when trying to implement healthy eating habits among workers, were lack of motivation, lack of time and finances of companies. The opportunities were motivation, cooperation with other actors and adequate knowledge in the field. Healthy eating habits received low priority among the nurses. Conclusion: Motivation will always be necessary in order to change lifestyle or habits. Therefore, a high priority must be to work more with how to motivate those individuals who may not be so inclined to make a change.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:29:34Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2012-02-28Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T18:59:06Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 gaino_ra_me_botfm.pdf: 963780 bytes, checksum: 4229ce0ebd75ee2aeaa0f206881f5fce (MD5) / Considerando-se que a alimentação e a nutrição são aspectos fundamentais para a promoção da saúde da criança, a presente pesquisa tem por objetivo identificar a concepção da criança em idade escolar em relação à alimentação e nutrição. Trata-se de uma pesquisa qualitativa, de abordagem interpretativa, na qual foram entrevistadas dezessete crianças com idade de 9 a 11 anos de uma escola municipal de Botucatu, no interior paulista, no ano de 2011. Foram realizadas duas entrevistas semi-estruturadas; questionário com questões abertas; observação participativa com uma oficina culinária, leitura e interpretação de histórias infantis e trabalho com desenhos e; diário de campo, como material para coleta de dados. As entrevistas abordaram as concepções das crianças em relação à alimentação e a nutrição. Essas foram gravadas e tiveram a duração de cerca de uma hora cada uma As transcrições foram feitas pela pesquisadora. Os dados foram apresentados de forma descritiva e as entrevistas foram interpretadas através de análise de conteúdo, sendo que emergiram dos dados empíricos cinco categorias de análise. Como resultados, esse estudo possibilitou identificar que as crianças têm noção do caminho por que passam os alimentos nos seus sistemas digestivos e percebem a digestão nas suas diferentes etapas. Além disso, aponta a presença da mãe na prática alimentar e na escolha dos cardápios. Há, ainda, preocupação com a concepção dos alimentos como promotores de saúde e também como produtores de doenças e até como sua falta ou excesso pode contribuir para o óbito. As crianças destacam as funções dos alimentos assim como seus componentes específicos e apresentam concepções adequadas sobre as qualidades especificas de alimentos considerados promotores de saúde. No entanto... / Considering that alimentation and nutrition are crucial for the child health promotion, the present work aims to identify the school-age child's conception in relation to alimentation and nutrition. This is a qualitative-interpretive approach-research in with seventeen children aged 9-11 years have been interviewed on a municipal school of Botucatu in the countryside of São Paulo in 2011. Several activities were realized as two semi-structured interviews; a questionnaire with open questions; a culinary workshop dynamic observation; children's stories reading and drawings interpretation; and work with a field journal, as material for data collection. The interviews approached the children conception about alimentation and nutrition. They were recorded and lasted approximately one hour each. The interviews approached the children conception about alimentation and nutrition. They were recorded and lasted approximately one hour each. The transcripts were made by the researcher. Data were presented descriptively and interviews were interpreted using content analysis. Five categories of analysis emerged from empirical data. As a result, this study identified that children have notion of the way the food passes in their digestive systems have the perception of digestion in its different stages. Furthermore, it indicates the presence of the mother in eating habits and choice of menus. There is also concern about the concept of food as health promoters as well as producers of disease and even as their lack or excess can contribute to death. Children highlight the roles of food as well as their specific components and have adequate conceptions about the special qualities of foods considered health promoters. However, it was revealed that they do not like foods such as vegetables and some fruits and this may be related to the habits... (Complete abstract click electronic access below)

Background. Self-categorisation theory and the identity-based motivation perspective suggest that people’s motivation to engage in a particular behaviour is stronger when that behaviour is congruent with their salient social identity. In situations where a certain social identity is made salient, or where people identify strongly with a particular group, the social norm associated with that group may have a strong effect on individual behaviour. This perspective can be used to enhance the understanding of health-related intentions and behaviour. The aim of this thesis is to investigate the usefulness of adding concepts related to social identity to existing social cognitive models of healthy eating. The prediction being made is that members of groups that value healthy eating might be more likely to engage in healthy eating when their membership in that particular group is made salient. Five experimental studies tested the effect of social identity salience and group identification on healthy eating intentions and behaviour. Both intentions and behaviour were measured in each of the five studies, to allow for investigating the existence and potential causes of the intention-behaviour gap for healthy eating. Methods and Results. All five studies included random assignment of participants to conditions, and an experimental manipulation of social identity salience or social image healthiness. In Study 1 (n = 149), conducted among female university students, participants’ female, family, or personal identity was made salient. The results showed that increasing the salience of female or family identity led to stronger healthy eating intentions, but did not increase the likelihood of picking a healthy snack over an unhealthy one. Study 2 (n = 115) did not include a successful manipulation of salient social identity, but it showed a positive association between female identification, measured as a trait, and healthy eating intentions, even after controlling for attitude, subjective norm and perceived behavioural control. Study 3 (n = 156) included a manipulation of social identity salience (female or student) and a manipulation of social image healthiness (images presenting in-group members engaging in either healthy or unhealthy behaviour). The results corroborated the earlier finding that female identification is positively correlated with healthy eating intentions. Also, the results indicated that when participants were shown social images of their in-group members engaging in healthy or unhealthy behaviour, they expressed intentions in line with the social images only if they did not express strong identification with the in-group. Study 4 (n = 87) was conducted in the context of Australian identity and included a manipulation of social images healthiness. The findings provided evidence for the existence of a vicarious licensing effect for healthy eating. Namely, for participants who highly identified with their social group, exposure to pictures of other in-group members engaging in healthy behaviour resulted in choosing less healthy food items from a restaurant menu. Study 5 (n = 117) demonstrated the existence of a vicarious licensing effect in the context of female identity, where participants’ food intake during a taste test was predicted by the interaction of the social image healthiness and their group identification. Conclusions. By examining the predictors of both healthy eating intention and behaviour, the research presented in this thesis sheds light on some of the phenomena potentially underlying the intention-behaviour gap for healthy eating, particularly among women. It appears that the healthy eating norm is internalised by women and translated into healthy eating intentions, to the extent that women who identify more highly with their gender group, and those whose female identity is made temporarily salient, also express stronger healthy eating intentions. The association between female identification and healthy eating behaviour, however, appears to be much less consistent, and in most studies the correlation between healthy eating intentions and eating behaviour was poor, even though a variety of measures of behaviour was used. These findings suggest that actual eating is often not predicted by intentions, but depends on contextual factors, such as being given an opportunity to reinforce the healthy eating goal, or the availability of information about in-group members’ eating behaviour. The results also have implications for health-psychological interventions, in suggesting that people’s response to health-related content (such as social images that may be used in health promotion interventions) may be different depending on their level of group identification. In line with the vicarious licensing effect, individuals who report high levels of group identification might be less likely to respond to interventions aimed at their specific social groups.

The Mississippi Delta has been recognized for its poverty level and high rate of obesity. As an effort to combat the obesity issue while also considering the poverty issue of the population, a descriptive analysis was developed to understand what intervention might be beneficial. Focus groups were conducted to determine barriers to healthy eating behaviors for children, grades K-2. Focus groups (n=6) with parents or guardians of children from the six elementary schools in the Mississippi Delta were conducted in the Spring of 2007. The emergent themes included, perceived healthy foods, where diet information had been retrieved, and the efforts associated with meal preparation. Participants also voiced concern regarding the school policy on vending and coke machines that provide high-calorie non-nutritious foods.