Factors predicting staying in school to eat lunch

Cooking at Home: Correlates of Frequency and Intention in Fifth Graders

Cooking at home is associated with health benefits, and 10- and 11-year-old children are capable of participating in meal preparation. However, opportunities for children to cook at home have declined. This study aimed to identify determinants of the frequency and the intention to cook at home in fifth graders using the Theory of Planned Behavior as a framework with quantitative methodology. A total of 241 participants across five elementary schools of the Chaudière-Appalaches region (Quebec, Canada) took part in this correlational study. Data were collected via a self-administered questionnaire based on the Theory of Planned Behavior. Regression analyses led to the identification of determinants of frequency and intention to cook at home. More than two-thirds of participants (69%) declared having cooked at home in the past 7 days. Intention was the only significant variable explaining 18% of the variance for frequency. Intention was determined by perceived behavioral control, attitude, descriptive norms, subjective norms, perceived barriers, being a girl, and normative beliefs, which explain 74% of the variance. Whereas other studies aiming at better understanding children's involvement in meal preparation at home focused on self-efficacy for cooking, this study highlights other behavioral determinants. For example, support from parents appears to be crucial to promote this behavior in this age group. Future research and interventions should be oriented toward determinants such as subjective norms and normative beliefs, and focus on children's autonomy.

Choice Drivers for Quality-Labelled Food: A Cross-Cultural Comparison on PDO Cheese

This study aims at examining the consumers’ preferences and drivers affecting the choice of quality-labelled food products, i.e., protected designation of origin (PDO) labelled cheese. We applied the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) to analyse the purchase of Parmigiano Reggiano PDO and Comté PDO hard cheeses in Italy and France, respectively. A cross-sectional sample of 808 consumers (400 French and 408 Italian) completed a questionnaire. Structural equation modelling (SEM) indicated perceived behavioural control (PBC) and attitude to be significant predictors of intention to purchase PDO-labelled cheese in France and Italy. Subjective and moral norms affected intention in France. Intention significantly influenced the hard cheese purchase behaviour. The results confirm that the TPB model predicted the self-reported measure of behaviour more than the observed one, measured with a discrete choice experiment, in both countries. The TPB interrelationships varied between countries, suggesting that food systems operators and public authorities should carefully target their intervention to stimulate the demand of PDO-labelled products.

Elementary school teachers’ behavioral intentions for healthy nutrition

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of elementary school teachers’ psychological factors on their behavioral intentions for healthy nutrition in their daily life within an extended version of the theory of planned behavior (TPB).

Design/methodology/approach

The design of the study is correlation study.

Findings

Constructs in the proposal model formed accounted for of variance of intentions and behaviors successfully. Considering the entire proposed model, while personal norm is the most influential factor on intention, self-identity is the most consistent effects on teachers’ behavior. However, among the constructs of TPB, perceived behavioral control is the strongest influence on both intention and behavior.

Originality/value

In the literature, factors affecting healthy behaviors by using TPB focused on mainly children (8–10 year old) and adolescents (11–16 year old) all over the world. However, in some countries, several studies were conducted on adults (e.g. Astrøsm and Rise, 2001; Brouwer and Mosack, 2015), to the best of our knowledge, while there is no study conducted on adults including teachers in Turkey. In addition, recently, two meta-analysis studies were published: Riebl et al. (2015) and Mcdermott et al. (2015). These studies suggested that future studies related to healthy nutrition in the scope of TPB should be continued to investigate.

Fostering social relationships through food rituals in a New Zealand school

Purpose

– Food practices, including associated routines, rituals, and habits, are an unexplored area in school health promotion. The purpose of this paper is to fill this gap through exploring how food rituals act as vehicles for young people to establish, maintain, and strengthen social relationships.

Design/methodology/approach

– Through an ethnographic inquiry, including observations and interviews with teachers and 16-18 years old students in New Zealand, everyday practices were explored in-depth across one school year.

Findings

– The findings include three food rituals as significant for young people in managing their social relationships, including the lunch walk, ritualised sharing, and gifting food. The findings highlight the importance of everyday food rituals for young people’s social relationships. For instance, gifting cake mediated care to friends, showed trust in the relationship, and allowed to reciprocate; the lunch walk encouraged social interaction and was a means by which young people could integrate into a new group; and ritualised sharing food involved negotiating friendship boundaries.

Research limitations/implications

– The study is exploratory with findings reported from one school. Further research exploring how young people use food rituals in their everyday lives for managing social relationships is needed.

Originality/value

– A focus on social relationships in settings such as schools could broaden the scope of nutrition promotion to promote health in physical, mental, and social dimensions. Implications for school health promotion are discussed.

A systematic literature review and meta-analysis: The Theory of Planned Behavior's application to understand and predict nutrition-related behaviors in youth

BACKGROUND

Efforts to reduce unhealthy dietary intake behaviors in youth are urgently needed. Theory-based interventions can be effective in promoting behavior change; one promising model is the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB).

PURPOSE

The aim of this study was to determine, using a systematic literature review, how the TPB has been applied to investigate dietary behaviors, and to evaluate which constructs are associated with dietary behavioral intentions and behaviors in youth.

METHODS

Publications were identified by searching electronic databases, contacting experts in the field, and examining an evolving Internet-based TPB-specific bibliography. Studies including participants aged 2-18years, all TPB constructs discernible and measured with a description of how the variables were assessed and analyzed, were published in English and peer-reviewed journals, and focused on nutrition-related behaviors in youth were identified. Accompanying a descriptive statistical analysis was the calculation of effect sizes where possible, a two-stage meta-analysis, and a quality assessment using tenants from the Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials (CONSORT) and Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (STROBE) statements.

RESULTS

Thirty-four articles, including three intervention studies, were reviewed. The TPB was most often used to evaluate healthy eating and sugary snack and beverage consumption. Attitude had the strongest relationship with dietary behavioral intention (mean r=0.52), while intention was the most common predictor of behavior performance (mean r=0.38; both p<0.001). All three interventions revealed beneficial outcomes when using the TPB (e.g. η(2)=0.51 and ds=0.91, 0.89, and 0.79); extending the Theory with implementation intentions may enhance its effectiveness (e.g. η(2)=0.76).

CONCLUSIONS

Overall, the TPB may be an effective framework to identify and understand child and adolescent nutrition-related behaviors, allowing for the development of tailored initiatives targeting poor dietary practices in youth. However, support from the literature is primarily from observational studies and a greater effort towards examining these relationships within intervention studies is needed.

Adolescents’ Health Education and Social Media

Purpose:

The research aims to predict the perceptions/opinion of nutritious/harmful intake and the perceptions/opinion of different socializing agents who encouraged nutritious and healthy eating among the Indian adolescents.

Design/Methodology/Approach:

A survey was done on 160 adolescents from the different zones (eastern, western, northern, southern) in India. A well-structured questionnaire with suitable items was prepared and distributed among the adolescents in India.

Findings:

The findings of this study reveal that adolescents frequently ate/consumed unhealthy and junk foods (chocolates, snacks, soft drinks, etc.). As per the adolescents’ perception, the intake of foods regularly on time comes under the most important healthy eating habit. Also, as far as the situational influences are concerned, like in marriages/birthday parties, it has been found that adolescents generally eat unhealthy foods. While at home or when they are sick, they generally eat healthy and nutritious food. The socializing agents, especially parents, act as a main agent or promoter for the healthy food as compared to peers, schools or the siblings.

Research Limitations/Implications:

In each region (east, west, north, south), only two to three secondary schools were chosen for the data collection; all these schools could not be the representative of the all the adolescents in different regions.

Originality/Value:

The article offers insights into designing communication strategies for adolescents’ health education. It is original in that it focuses on adolescents, and explores the perceptions of different socializing agents and the influence of advertising media appeals on healthy eating.

Staying in school for lunch instead of eating in fast-food restaurants: results of a quasi-experimental study among high-school students

OBJECTIVE

Following the adoption of food policies replacing unhealthy products by healthy foods in school, the present study tested the effectiveness of an intervention aimed at encouraging high-school students to stay in school for lunch instead of eating in fast-food restaurants.

DESIGN

A 12-week multi-strategy intervention targeting specific determinants of behaviour was evaluated via a quasi-experimental pre- and post-intervention design. A self-administered questionnaire was employed based on the theory of planned behaviour.

SETTING

An experimental (n 129) and a control school (n 112) in central Canada.

SUBJECTS

High-school students aged 12 to 17 years.

RESULTS

Compared with control school students, those in the experimental school significantly increased the mean number of days that they stayed in school for lunch (relative risk = 1.55; 95 % CI 1.06, 2.27; P = 0.024), as well as the proportion who remained in school for lunch every day (relative risk = 1.21; 95 % CI 1.04, 1.40; P = 0.014). Among the psychosocial variables targeted, only self-efficacy appeared to be influenced by the intervention, mainly because of a decline in control group values. Mediation analysis indicated a significant mediating effect of self-efficacy on the mean number of days that students stayed in school for lunch (bias-corrected and accelerated point estimate = 0.079; 95 % CI 0.0059, 0.1958).

CONCLUSIONS

These results suggest that interventions aimed at enhancing self-efficacy can successfully contribute to students staying in school during lunch time. Such interventions should be considered in obesity prevention programmes adapted to high-school students.

Development of an intervention programme to encourage high school students to stay in school for lunch instead of eating at nearby fast-food restaurants

Many schools have recently adopted food policies and replaced unhealthy products by healthy foods. Consequently, adolescents are more likely to consume a healthy meal if they stay in school for lunch to eat a meal either prepared at home or purchased in school cafeterias. However, many continue to eat in nearby fast-food restaurants. The present paper describes the development of a theory-based intervention programme aimed at encouraging high school students to stay in school for lunch. Intervention Mapping and the Theory of Planned Behaviour served as theoretical frameworks to guide the development of a 12-week intervention programme of activities addressing intention, descriptive norm, perceived behavioural control and attitude. It was offered to students and their parents with several practical applications, such as structural environmental changes, and educational activities, such as audio and electronic messages, posters, cooking sessions, pamphlets, improvisation play theatre, quiz, and conferences. The programme considers theoretical and empirical data, taking into account specific beliefs and contexts of the target population. This paper should help programme planners in the development of appropriate interventions addressing the problem.

Do obesity-promoting food environments cluster around socially disadvantaged schools in Glasgow, Scotland?

Increase in the consumption of food and drinks outside the home by adolescents and young people and associations with rising levels of obesity is a significant concern worldwide and it has been suggested that the food environment around schools may be a contributory factor. As few studies have explored this issue in a UK setting, we examined whether different types of food outlets are clustered around public secondary schools in Glasgow, and whether this pattern differed by social disadvantage. We found evidence of clustering of food outlets around schools but a more complex picture in relation to deprivation was observed. Across all schools there were numerous opportunities for pupils to purchase energy dense foods locally and the implications for policy are discussed.