Applying the Theory of Planned Behavior to healthy eating behaviors in urban Native American youth
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BioMed Central
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Applying the Theory of Planned Behavior to healthy eating behaviors in urban Native American youth Stefanie A Fila1 and Chery Smith*2 Address: 1Albuquerque School System, 1304 Sierra Larga NE, Albuquerque, NM 87112, USA and 2University of Minnesota, Department of Food Science and Nutrition, 225 FScN, 1334 Eckles Ave, St. Paul, MN 55108–6099, USA Email: Stefanie A Fila - [email protected]; Chery Smith* - [email protected] * Corresponding author
Published: 30 May 2006 International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity 2006, 3:11 5868-3-11
doi:10.1186/1479-
Received: 06 July 2005 Accepted: 30 May 2006
This article is available from: http://www.ijbnpa.org/content/3/1/11 © 2006 Fila and Smith; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Abstract Background: To investigate the efficacy of the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) to predict healthy eating behavior in a group of urban Native American youth. Methods: Native American boys and girls (n = 139), ages 9–18 years old, were given a selfadministered survey to assess eating behavior using the TBP constructs (intention, attitude, subjective norm, barriers, self-efficacy, and perceived behavioral control). Youth were also measured for height and weight and body mass index (BMI) was calculated. Bivariate correlations and stepwise regression analyses of TBP model were performed with SPSS software. Results: No association was found between intention and healthy eating behavior. However, independently healthy eating behavior was correlated with barriers (0.46), attitude (0.44), perceived behavioral control (0.35), and subjective norm (0.34). The most predictive barriers to eating healthy included the availability and taste of foods. Boys' eating behavior was most predicted by subjective norm, while girls' eating behavior was most predicted by barriers. Conclusion: Lack of association between intention and healthy eating behavior suggests that factors other than intentions may drive healthy eating behaviors in urban Native American youth. Results indicate that programs promoting healthy eating to youth might focus on collaborating with families to make healthy foods more appealing to youth.
Background Several studies suggest that Native American youth have a higher prevalence of obesity than the general United States population [1-7]. The problem is not restricted to just Native American youth, increases in pediatric obesity have been noted globally [8]. Additionally, research suggests that obesity may persist into adulthood and increase the risk of chronic diseases including heart disease, increased blood pressure, and type 2 diabetes, thus making it a major public health concern [9,10]. Because of the
known association between dietary intake and obesity [11,12], promo
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