Personalizing the Dietary Guidelines: use of a feedback report to help adolescent students plan health behaviors using a SMART goal approach

Abstract

Background: School health curricula should help students choose health goals related to the Dietary Guidelines (DG) recommendations addressing obesity. We aimed to identify characteristics associated with choice of DG recommendation items. Methods: In 12 HealthCorps affiliated high schools, students completed a 19item web-based questionnaire that provided a personalized health-behavior feedback report to guide setting SMART (Specific, Measurable, Action-oriented, Realistic, Time-bound) goals. We examined if gender, weight-status, and personalized feedback report messages were related to student-selected SMART Goals. Results: The most frequent SMART Goals focused on breakfast (22.4%), physical activity (21.1%), and sugary beverages (20.4%). Students were more likely to choose a SMART goal related to breakfast, sugary beverages, fruit/vegetable intake or physical activity if their feedback report suggested that health behavior was problematic (p < 0.0001). Males were more likely than females to set sugary beverage goals (p < 0.05). Females tended to be more likely than males to set breakfast goals (p = 0.051). Students, who had obesity, were more likely than normal weight students to set physical activity goals (p < 0.05). Conclusion: SMART goals choice was associated with gender and weight status. SMART goal planning with a web-based questionnaire and personalized feedback report appears to help students develop goals related to the Dietary Guidelines recommendations.

Trends in health behavior and weight outcomes following enhanced afterschool programming participation

“…However, there is an improvement noted. The addition of personalized feedback and target behavior planning via web-based surveys and personalized reports may better capture less individual progress that supports the development of realistic target behavior goals as a first step to reaching the “ideal” target behavior goals [ 52 ].…”

Implementing Health Behavior Change Consultations for Adult Patients in a Free Student-Led Interprofessional Community Clinic

“…Goal-setting follows the specific, measurable, action-oriented, realistic, and timely (SMART) goal format. 9 Collaboratively created SMART goals help identify steps for action and are associated with health behavior changes. 9 During a HBCC, two SMART goals are created and recorded in the patient's preferred language using the "Goals Sheet" (Appendix A), which serves as a resource for patients and a guide for clinicians during follow-up visits.…”

“…9 Collaboratively created SMART goals help identify steps for action and are associated with health behavior changes. 9 During a HBCC, two SMART goals are created and recorded in the patient's preferred language using the "Goals Sheet" (Appendix A), which serves as a resource for patients and a guide for clinicians during follow-up visits. Follow-ups occur in conjunction with patients' next primary care appointments, usually one to three months later, to assess progress, goals, and barriers.…”

Trends in Health Behavior and Weight Outcomes Following&nbsp;Enhanced Afterschool Programming Participation: A Pragmatic Quasi-experimental Study

“…The addition of personalized feedback and target behavior planning via web-based surveys and personalized reports, may better capture smaller individual improvements that support the development of realistic target behavior goals as a rst step to reaching the "ideal" target behavior goals. [39]…”