Factors Influencing Nutritional Behavior Among Patients With Metabolic Syndrome

Introduction. Lifestyle modification and adherence to healthy diet is crucial in the prevention and management of metabolic syndrome (MetS). Aim: The aim of the current study was to identify factors affecting healthy nutritional behaviors among patients with MetS. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, a total of 322 adults with a mean age of 40.55 ± 5.97 years were included. The diagnosis of MetS was based on the criteria suggested by the International Diabetes Federation. Nutritional attitudes, subjective norms, intention, and nutritional behaviors were assessed through a questionnaire designed by researchers. Results: The finding indicated that nutritional attitude and gender of participants were predicting factors of behavioral intention. Furthermore, nutritional attitude, behavioral intention, gender, and level of education could predict nutritional behavior in patients. However, subjective norm was a weak predictor of behavioral intention and nutritional behavior. Conclusions: The findings suggest that attitude and intention, but not subjective norms, along with some sociodemographic variables were able to predict the nutritional behavior of MetS patients that could be a basis for designing educational interventions for health promotion among them.