The proof is in the eating: subjective peer norms are associated with adolescents’ eating behaviour.

Auteur(s) :
Stok FM., de Vet E., de Wit JB., Luszczynska A., Safron M., de Ridder DT.
Date :
Juin, 2014
Source(s) :
Public health nutrition. # p
Adresse :
Department of Clinical and Health Psychology,Utrecht University,Post Box 80140,3508 TC Utrecht,The Netherlands. [email protected]

Sommaire de l'article
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OBJECTIVE
To investigate associations of self-perceived eating-related peer norms (called 'subjective peer norms') with adolescents' healthy eating intentions and intake of healthy and unhealthy food.

DESIGN
Cross-sectional data were collected in a large international survey.

SETTING
Two types of subjective peer norms were assessed: perceived peer encouragement of healthy eating and perceived peer discouragement of unhealthy eating. Outcome variables were healthy eating intentions, intake of healthy food (fruits and vegetables) and intake of unhealthy food (snacks and soft drinks).

SUBJECTS
Over 2500 European (pre-)adolescents aged between 10 and 17 years participated.

RESULTS
Subjective peer norms were associated with all three outcome variables. While both perceived encouragement of healthy eating and perceived discouragement of unhealthy eating were related to intentions, only peer encouragement of healthy eating was related to intakes of both healthy and unhealthy food.

CONCLUSIONS
Subjective peer norms play a role in adolescent eating behaviour and as such are an important target for health promotion. Addressing norms that encourage healthy eating may be more promising in changing behaviour than norms that discourage unhealthy eating.

Source : Pubmed
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