Testing an Integrated Model of Nutrition Behavior in a Sample of Australian Children

Testing an Integrated Model of Nutrition Behavior in a Sample of Australian Children

Introduction: Australian national surveys indicate that only 4.6% of children are eating the Australian Dietary Guidelines recommended serves of five vegetables and two fruits a day, and just over half are exceeding the WHO recommendation to limit energy from free sugars to less than 10% of dietary energy. A shift away from specific theories and models toward more generalized approaches that attempt to integrate different theories and models and that unify the factors that impact on health behavior and the mechanisms by which the factors exert their influence, is gaining increased interest. Using an integrated model drawing on Triandis’ theory of interpersonal behavior and Ajzen’s theory of planned behavior, we tested the social-cognitive, affective, and automatic processes that predict fruit and vegetable intake (FVI) and restriction of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB) in a sample of Australian children.

Methods: Participants (N=194) were secondary school students in grades 7 and 8 (Meanage = 12.61). Parent and child consent were obtained. The study adopted a prospective correlational design with a one-week follow-up. At Time 1, participants, in class, completed measures of social-cognitive variables from the theory of planned behavior (attitude, subjective norm, perceived behavioral control, intention), and affective and automatic variables from the theory of interpersonal behavior (anticipated positive affect, anticipated negative affect, behavioral automaticity, and past behavior frequency). Demographic information was also collected. At Time 2, participants completed follow-up measures of the two target behaviors.

Results: Structural equation modelling revealed unique patterns of effects. For restriction of SSB, results showed significant direct effects of attitude, subject norm, and perceived behavioral control on intention, and effects of anticipated positive and negative affect on intention fell marginally short of statistical significance. Intention and perceived behavioral control, but not behavioral automaticity, significantly predicted restriction of SSB. For FVI, results showed significant direct effects of attitude, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control, but not anticipated positive and negative affect, on intention. Intention and behavioral automaticity, but not perceived behavioral control, significantly predicted FVI. Past behavior, gender, and age were controlled for in all analyses, with past behavior predicting both behaviors.

Discussion: Results provide formative evidence for the roles of social-cognitive, affective, and automatic processes for nutrition behavior in children. It appears that children intentionally restrict their SSB and affective processes may have a role in these decisions, whereas their FVI is governed more by intentional and automatic processes rather than by affective processes.

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