IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v18y2021i24p12897-d696970.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Food Availability, Motivational-Related Factors, and Food Consumption: A Path Model Study with Children

Author

Listed:
  • Beatriz Pereira

    (Department of Applied Psychology, University of Minho, 4710-052 Braga, Portugal)

  • Pedro Rosário

    (Department of Applied Psychology, University of Minho, 4710-052 Braga, Portugal)

  • José Carlos Núñez

    (Department of Psychology, University of Oviedo, 33003 Oviedo, Spain)

  • Daniela Rosendo

    (Department of Applied Psychology, University of Minho, 4710-052 Braga, Portugal)

  • Cristina Roces

    (Department of Psychology, University of Oviedo, 33003 Oviedo, Spain)

  • Paula Magalhães

    (Department of Applied Psychology, University of Minho, 4710-052 Braga, Portugal)

Abstract

The promotion of children’s healthy eating is a key public health priority. However, children’s food consumption is a complex phenomenon with several contributing factors, and there is a call to continue developing comprehensive models with several variables acting simultaneously. The present study aimed to examine the role different motivational-related variables (e.g., self-regulation, self-efficacy) may play in children’s consumption of healthy and unhealthy foods. To address this goal, data were collected in a sample of 242 fifth and sixth graders with access to both healthy and unhealthy foods at home. A path model was conducted to analyze networks of relationships between motivational-related variables and children’s healthy and unhealthy eating. The gender variable was included as a covariate to control its effect. The data showed that self-regulation for healthy eating mediates the relationship between the predictor variables (i.e., knowledge, attitude, and self-efficacy) and the type of food consumption (healthy and unhealthy). Current data contribute to understanding the complexity behind food consumption by providing a comprehensive model with motivational-related factors associated with both healthy and unhealthy eating. The present findings are likely to help inform the development of early preventive interventions focused on the promotion of healthy eating.

Suggested Citation

  • Beatriz Pereira & Pedro Rosário & José Carlos Núñez & Daniela Rosendo & Cristina Roces & Paula Magalhães, 2021. "Food Availability, Motivational-Related Factors, and Food Consumption: A Path Model Study with Children," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(24), pages 1-13, December.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:24:p:12897-:d:696970
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/24/12897/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/24/12897/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Beatriz Pereira & Pedro Rosário & Cátia Silva & Gabriela Figueiredo & José Carlos Núñez & Paula Magalhães, 2019. "The Mediator and/or Moderator Role of Complexity of Knowledge about Healthy Eating and Self-Regulated Behavior on the Relation between Family’s Income and Children’s Obesity," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(21), pages 1-15, October.
    2. repec:mpr:mprres:5952 is not listed on IDEAS
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Cátia Silva & Beatriz Pereira & Gabriela Figueiredo & Pedro Rosário & José Carlos Núñez & Paula Magalhães, 2023. "Self-Efficacy to Regulate Eating Behaviors Scale for Children: A Validation Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(4), pages 1-11, February.
    2. Paula Magalhães & Catarina Vilas & Beatriz Pereira & Cátia Silva & Hélder Oliveira & Camila Aguiar & Pedro Rosário, 2022. "Children’s Perceived Barriers to a Healthy Diet: The Influence of Child and Community-Related Factors," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(4), pages 1-13, February.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Cátia Silva & Beatriz Pereira & Gabriela Figueiredo & Pedro Rosário & José Carlos Núñez & Paula Magalhães, 2023. "Self-Efficacy to Regulate Eating Behaviors Scale for Children: A Validation Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(4), pages 1-11, February.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:24:p:12897-:d:696970. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.