Verstraeten, R., Van Royen, K., Ochoa-Aviles, A. et al. (5 more authors) (2014) A Conceptual Framework for Healthy Eating Behavior in Ecuadorian Adolescents: A Qualitative Study. PLOS ONE, 9 (1). ARTN e87183. ISSN 1932-6203
Abstract
Objective: The objective of this study was to identify factors influencing eating behavior of Ecuadorian adolescents - from the perspective of parents, school staff and adolescents - to develop a conceptual framework for adolescents’ eating behavior.
Study design: Twenty focus groups (N = 144 participants) were conducted separately with adolescents aged 11–15 y (n (focus groups) = 12, N (participants) = 80), parents (n = 4, N = 32) and school staff (n = 4, N = 32) in rural and urban Ecuador. A semi-structured questioning route was developed based on the ‘Attitude, Social influences and Self-efficacy’ model and the socio-ecological model to assess the relevance of behavioral and environmental factors in low- and middle-income countries. Two researchers independently analyzed verbatim transcripts for emerging themes, using deductive thematic content analysis. Data were analyzed using NVivo 8.
Results: All groups recognized the importance of eating healthily and key individual factors in Ecuadorian adolescents’ food choices were: financial autonomy, food safety perceptions, lack of self-control, habit strength, taste preferences and perceived peer norms. Environmental factors included the poor nutritional quality of food and its easy access at school. In their home and family environment, time and convenience completed the picture as barriers to eating healthily. Participants acknowledged the impact of the changing socio-cultural environment on adolescents’ eating patterns. Availability of healthy food at home and financial constraints differed between settings and socio-economic groups.
Conclusion: Our findings endorse the importance of investigating behavioral and environmental factors that influence and mediate healthy dietary behavior prior to intervention development. Several culture-specific factors emerged that were incorporated into a conceptual framework for developing health promotion interventions in Ecuador.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2014 Verstraeten et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health (Sheffield) > School of Health and Related Research (Sheffield) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 03 Aug 2016 14:49 |
Last Modified: | 03 Aug 2016 14:49 |
Published Version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0087183 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Public Library of Science |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1371/journal.pone.0087183 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:94044 |