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Published on: February 19, 2021
Improving Behavioral Nutrition Interventions: A Structural Equation Modeling Study to Model Pathways Among Consumer
Adrian Ortega1, Zheng Zhou, Siva K Balasubramanian
1Author Affiliations: Children's Mercy Kansas City, Kansas City, Missouri (Dr Ortega); Department of Pediatrics, University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Medicine, Kansas City, Missouri (Dr Ortega); College of Business, Lewis University, Romeoville, Illinois (Dr Zhou); Stuart School of Business, Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, Illinois (Dr Balasubramanian); Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois (Dr Fishbein); and Department of Pediatrics, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois (Dr Fishbein).
Understanding consumer food characteristics is key to improving dietary behaviors and health outcomes. This study reveals significant pathways linking food traits to well-being, highlighting nutrition self-efficacy.
Area of Science:
- Behavioral Science
- Nutritional Science
- Health Outcomes Research
Background:
- Consumer food characteristics are linked to dietary behaviors.
- Pathways between food traits, behaviors, and health are not fully understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To identify pathways between consumer food characteristics and self-reported health using structural equation modeling.
- To construct and test a conceptual model of 10 hypothesized pathways based on existing literature.
Main Methods:
- Structural equation modeling (SEM) with Mplus software was used.
- 880 adults completed measures of food consumer characteristics and health.
- Multiple group analyses and measurement invariance testing examined demographic and consumer variations.
Main Results:
- The final SEM model demonstrated excellent fit, with all hypothesized pathways being statistically significant.
- Pathway relationships varied in strength based on age, education, income, grocery/snack spending, and eating control.
Conclusions:
- Consumer food characteristics significantly influence health and well-being.
- Nutrition self-efficacy is a critical factor for improving health outcomes.
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