title: Comparing the utility of the theory of planned behavior between boys and girls for predicting snack food consumption: implications for practice.
abstract: The purpose of this study was to use the theory of planned behavior to explain two types of snack food consumption among boys and girls (girls n = 98; boys n = 69), which may have implications for future theory-based health promotion interventions. Between genders, there was a significant difference for calorie-dense/nutrient-poor snacks (p = .002), but no difference for fruit and vegetable snacks. Using stepwise multiple regression, attitudes, perceived behavioral control, and subjective norms accounted for a large amount of the variance of intentions (girls = 43.3%; boys = 55.9%); however, for girls, subjective norms accounted for the most variance, whereas for boys, attitudes accounted for the most variance. Calories from calorie-dense/nutrient-poor snacks and fruit and vegetable snacks were also predicted by intentions. For boys, intentions predicted 6.4% of the variance for fruit and vegetable snacks (p = .03) but was not significant for calorie-dense/nutrient-poor snacks, whereas for girls, intentions predicted 6.0% of the variance for fruit and vegetable snacks (p = .007), and 7.2% of the variance for calorie-dense/nutrient-poor snacks (p = .004). Results suggest that the theory of planned behavior is a useful framework for predicting snack foods among children; however, there are important differences between genders that should be considered in future health promotion interventions.
authors.affiliation: 1The University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA.
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Branscum
authors.forename: Manoj
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sharma
mesh_terms: D001519:Behavior; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006293:Health Promotion; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011582:Psychological Theory; D012737:Sex Factors; D062410:Snacks / Q000523:psychology*; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors
keywords: behavior change theory; child/adolescent health; health education; nutrition; theory