Explaining the effects of a point-of-purchase nutrition-information intervention in university canteens: a structural eq
- PDF / 229,140 Bytes
- 10 Pages / 595.28 x 793.7 pts Page_size
- 46 Downloads / 129 Views
RESEARCH
Open Access
Explaining the effects of a point-of-purchase nutrition-information intervention in university canteens: a structural equation modelling analysis Christine Hoefkens1,2*, Zuzanna Pieniak2, John Van Camp1 and Wim Verbeke2
Abstract Background: The importance of canteen meals in the diet of many university students makes the provision of simple point-of-purchase (POP) nutrition information in university canteens a potentially effective way to promote healthier diets in an important group of young adults. However, modifications to environments such as the posting of POP nutrition information in canteens may not cause an immediate change in meal choices and nutrient intakes. The present study aimed at understanding the process by which the POP nutrition information achieved its effects on the meal choice and energy intake, and whether the information was more effective in changing the meal choice of subgroups of university canteen customers. Methods: The POP nutrition-information intervention used a one-group pretest-posttest design. A sample of 224 customers of two university canteens completed the baseline and 6-months follow-up surveys. A multi-group structural equation modelling analysis was used to test mediation effects of individual difference variables (liking, understanding and use of the information, subjective knowledge and attitude) on the energy intake from canteen meals, moderated by the objective nutrition knowledge and motivation to change diet. Results: Significant relations were identified between liking of the information and its use on one hand and a positive effect in attitude towards healthy canteen meals on the other hand. Motivation to change diet and sufficient objective nutrition knowledge were required to maintain a recommended energy intake from canteen meals or to lead to a decrease in energy intake. Participants with greater objective nutrition knowledge had a greater understanding of the POP nutrition information which also resulted in a more effective use of the information. Conclusions: The results suggest that nutrition-information interventions may be more effective when using nutrition information that is generally liked by the target population in combination with an educational intervention to increase objective nutrition knowledge. Trial registration: NCT01249508 Keywords: Point-of-purchase information, University canteen meals, Young adults, Information processing, Motivation, Nutrition knowledge, Moderated mediation model, Structural equation modelling
* Correspondence: [email protected] 1 Department of Food Safety and Food Quality, Ghent University, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Coupure Links 653 B-9000, Ghent, Belgium 2 Department of Agricultural Economics, Ghent University, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Coupure Links 653 B-9000, Ghent, Belgium © 2012 Hoefkens et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/
Data Loading...