The role of availability as a moderator of family fruit and vegetable consumption.
The public health objective to improve the diet of Americans includes increasing the consumption of fruits and vegetables (F&V). The availability of F&V in the home has been suggested but not confirmed as one environmental factor that influences the types and quantities of F&V eaten by family members. Using a model of parental and child influences on a child's intake of F&V, the authors investigated F&V availability as a moderating variable for the relationships between the model constructs and how the relationships might change with varying levels of F&V availability. Path analysis and multigroup structural equation modeling were the analytic tools. Results indicated that homes with more F&V available had a richer and generally stronger set of motivating factors for parent and child F&V consumption than homes with low F&V availability. Findings have implications for parental involvement in interventions to enhance the diet of fourth-grade children.
Department of Preventive Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham, 35205, USA. pkratt@uab.edu
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D000328:Adult; D000407:Alabama; D001294:Attitude to Health; D002648:Child; D004032:Diet / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D004034:Diet Surveys; D005247:Feeding Behavior / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D005523:Food Supply / Q000592:standards* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005638:Fruit / Q000600:supply & distribution*; D006293:Health Promotion; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015233:Models, Statistical; D009042:Motivation; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology; D002666:Psychology, Child; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014675:Vegetables / Q000600:supply & distribution*