Social support and self‐efficacy for the consumption of fruit and vegetables by adolescents: “Gimme 5"—A fresh nutrition concept for students

Two psychosocial variables associated with initiation and maintenance of healthy diets are social support and self‐efficacy. Questionnaires for assessing social support and self‐efficacy for fruit/vegetable consumption were designed for Gimme 5, a controlled 5‐A‐Day study with a high school cohort. Both questionnaires had good internal consistency and factor solutions consistent with theoretical intent. Females had significantly higher family support and self‐efficacy than males (p < 0.0001). Positive family support and self‐efficacy were related to self‐reported daily fruit/vegetable intake (N= 1,786;p < 0.0001). Analysis revealed that negative family support and negative or positive peer support were not relevant with this population for fruit/vegetable consumption. The Gimme 5 program was designed to use the positive effects of social support and self‐efficacy for improving diet.

Key words:

• Social support
• self‐efficacy
• diet
• fruit/vegetable
• 5‐A‐Day
• adolescents.

Notes

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