The Effect of Education on Increase Breakfast Consumption Among Female Students Based on Social Cognitive Theory (SCT)

Abstract

Objectives: Breakfast is the most important meal of the day and plays an important role in the physical and mental health of students. Young people, especially girls, frequently skip breakfast. One of the best theories that have been used successfully in various nutritional behaviors, such as breakfast consumption, is the social cognitive theory (SCT). The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of training intervention based on (SCT) increase breakfast consumption among female students of Hamadan University of Medical Sciences. Methods: In this quasi-experimental study, 100 female students living in two dormitories of Hamadan University of Medical Sciences allocated into two groups by using cluster sampling (control = 50 / intervention = 50) in 2014. The intervention group received 3 sessions, booklet, poster, and 3 cell phone SMS reminders. Measures included the constructs of SCT and consumption of breakfast during the past week. All participants completed questionnaires before, 10 days, and 4 months after the last session. Data was analyzed using the 16 SPSS software and based on independent t-test, paired t-test, Chi-square test, and repeated measures analysis. The significance level was considered (0.05). Results: At first, there were no significant differences between groups for demographic data and outcome variables (i.e.; constructs of SCT and behavior). The results showed that interventions led to increase breakfast consumption and improve scores of social cognitive theory structures in the intervention group. Also, in both follow up assessments, the level of knowledge, outcome expectancies, social support, self-efficacy, and frequency of breakfast consumption in the intervention group significantly increased (P < 0.001) compared with the control group. However, there were no differences between the two groups in terms of outcome expectations (P = 0.750) and observational learning (P = 0.427). Conclusions: This study supports the assumption that SCT-based interventions create a significant increase in breakfast consumption. Due to the effectiveness and low cost of this intervention, it seems that the extension of this program can lead to the increase in the frequency of breakfast consumption among students.

Multi-strategy instructional intervention for healthy eating intention among school going adolescents: A quasi-experimental study

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Beliefs, self-efficacy, subjective norms, and eating behaviors according to the breakfast frequency among female university students in South Korea

“…Similar to the present study, Smith et al [ 31 ] reported that those with higher self-efficacy for a healthy diet were more likely to eat breakfast (3 or more days/week) than breakfast skippers. Salimi et al [ 32 ] reported that the intervention focused on the SCT, improved self-efficacy, and breakfast consumption in female university students.…”

Predictors Of Breakfast Consumption Among Iranian Students: Applying Social Cognitive Theory

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