RESULTS Our findings suggest that consumers have a relatively poor underst and ing of a healthy diet .
The literature also demonstrates that there is poor evidence on the health protective effects of single foods or nutrients .
We further show that low SES is the single consistent risk factor for not adhering to a healthy diet .
Our review of the literature on determinants demonstrates that intentions , habits , self-regulatory skills , and the social and physical environment are the most important determinants of a healthy diet , which are in turn amenable to change by intervention strategies with varying levels of effectiveness .
Educational interventions generally show a limited effect on practising a healthy diet whereas interventions targeting habitual behaviour and /or the physical environment seem more promising .
In view of the large number of people who are concerned about their diets and make attempts to change their dietary patterns , we conclude that it is crucial to gain a better underst and ing of both the automatic and environmental influences that are responsible for people not acting upon their good intentions for diet change
OBJECTIVE To discuss healthy diet from a psychological perspective by considering definitions of healthy diet in terms of consumer underst and ing ; the health effects of specific dietary elements in terms of overweight and ( chronic ) illness ; the prevalence of healthy diet ; the psychological and environmental determinants of healthy diet ; and the psychological interventions that have been design ed to promote healthy diet .
Psychosocial determinants of fruit and vegetable intake in adult population: a systematic review
Background Accumulating evidence suggests that fruit and vegetable intake ( FVI ) plays a protective role against major diseases . Despite this protective role and the obesity p and emic context , population s in Western countries usually eat far less than five servings of fruits and vegetables per day . In order to increase the efficiency of interventions , they should be tailored to the most important determinants or mediators of FVI . The objective was to systematic ally review social cognitive theory-based studies of FVI and to identify its main psychosocial determinants . Methods Published papers were systematic ally sought using Current Contents ( 2007 - 2009 ) and Medline , Embase , PsycINFO , Proquest and Thesis , as well as Cinhal ( 1980 - 2009 ) . Additional studies were identified by a manual search in the bibliographies . Search terms included fruit , vegetable , behaviour , intention , as well as names of specific theories . Only studies predicting FVI or intention to eat fruits and vegetables in the general population and using a social cognitive theory were included . Independent extraction of information was carried out by two persons using predefined data fields , including study quality criteria . Results A total of 23 studies were identified and included , 15 study ing only the determinants of FVI , seven study ing the determinants of FVI and intention and one study ing only the determinants of intention . All pooled analyses were based on r and om-effects models . The r and om-effect R2 observed for the prediction of FVI was 0.23 and it was 0.34 for the prediction of intention . Multicomponent theoretical frameworks and the theory of planned behaviour ( TPB ) were most often used . A number of method ological moderators influenced the efficacy of prediction of FVI . The most consistent variables predicting behaviour were habit , motivation and goals , beliefs about capabilities , knowledge and taste ; those explaining intention were beliefs about capabilities , beliefs about consequences and perceived social influences . Conclusions Our results suggest that the TPB and social cognitive theory ( SCT ) are the preferable social cognitive theories to predict behaviour and TPB to explain intention . Efficacy of prediction was nonetheless negatively affected by method ological factors such as the study design and the quality of psychosocial and behavioural measures
RESULTS Our findings suggest that consumers have a relatively poor underst and ing of a healthy diet .
The literature also demonstrates that there is poor evidence on the health protective effects of single foods or nutrients .
We further show that low SES is the single consistent risk factor for not adhering to a healthy diet .
Our review of the literature on determinants demonstrates that intentions , habits , self-regulatory skills , and the social and physical environment are the most important determinants of a healthy diet , which are in turn amenable to change by intervention strategies with varying levels of effectiveness .
Educational interventions generally show a limited effect on practising a healthy diet whereas interventions targeting habitual behaviour and /or the physical environment seem more promising .
In view of the large number of people who are concerned about their diets and make attempts to change their dietary patterns , we conclude that it is crucial to gain a better underst and ing of both the automatic and environmental influences that are responsible for people not acting upon their good intentions for diet change
OBJECTIVE To discuss healthy diet from a psychological perspective by considering definitions of healthy diet in terms of consumer underst and ing ; the health effects of specific dietary elements in terms of overweight and ( chronic ) illness ; the prevalence of healthy diet ; the psychological and environmental determinants of healthy diet ; and the psychological interventions that have been design ed to promote healthy diet .