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Relationship between green eating stage of change and knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors of university students (626.11)
Author(s) -
Nash Jessica,
Greene Geoffrey
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.28.1_supplement.626.11
Subject(s) - psychological intervention , healthy eating , psychology , action plan , gerontology , medicine , physical activity , physical therapy , psychiatry , ecology , biology
Green Eating (GE) is defined as eating locally grown foods, limited amounts of processed/fast foods, meatless meals at least one day per week, choosing organic foods as much as possible, and only taking what you plan on eating. Students participating in an extra credit project at a northeastern university completed a survey assessing GE stage of change (SOC) using the above definition and behavior (B), decisional balance (DB Pro, DB Con), self‐efficacy (SE) and knowledge (K) related to GE using validated instruments. A total of 618 students completed the survey; the majority were female (77%), Caucasian (84%) and either freshmen (42%) or sophomores (43%). The proportion of students by stage was as follows: precontemplation (27.7%), contemplation (34.8%), preparation (12.7%), action (11.1%) and maintenance (13.7%). There was a significant multivariate effect of SOC (F= 19.09) as well as univariate effects for B (F=40.18), DB Pro (F=26.35), DB Con (F=9.5) and SE (F=45.67), all (p<.001). There was also a significant effect of SOC on knowledge (F=2.77, p<.001) with precontemplation being significantly different from maintenance (Tukey, p<.05). The breakdown of students by stage is similar to previous studies. With the majority of students in pre‐action stages, interventions should focus on increasing awareness, knowledge, and personal advantages of GE. Grant Funding Source : Supported by University of Rhode Island internal grant