Boyington Josephine E A, Schoster Britta, Remmes Martin Kathryn, Shreffler Jack, Callahan Leigh F
NIH/NINR, One Democracy Plaza, 6701 Democracy Blvd, Suite 710, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA.
Prev Chronic Dis. 2009 Jan;6(1):A04. Epub 2008 Dec 15.
Increases in obesity and other chronic conditions continue to fuel efforts for lifestyle behavior changes. However, many strategies do not address the impact of environment on lifestyle behaviors, particularly healthy dietary intake. This study explored the perceptions of environment on intake of fruits and vegetables in a cohort of 2,479 people recruited from 22 family practices in North Carolina.
Participants were administered a health and social demographic survey. Formative assessment was conducted on a subsample of 32 people by using focus groups, semistructured individual interviews, community mapping, and photographs. Interviews and discussions were transcribed and content was analyzed using ATLAS.ti version 5. Survey data were evaluated for means, frequencies, and group differences.
The 2,479 participants had a mean age of 52.8 years, mean body mass index (BMI) of 29.4, and were predominantly female, white, married, and high school graduates. The 32 subsample participants were older, heavier, and less educated. Some prevalent perceptions about contextual factors related to dietary intake included taste-bud fatigue (boredom with commonly eaten foods), life stresses, lack of forethought in meal planning, current health status, economic status, the ability to garden, lifetime dietary exposure, concerns about food safety, contradictory nutrition messages from the media, and variable work schedules.
Perceptions about intake of fruits and vegetables intake are influenced by individual (intrinsic) and community (extrinsic) environmental factors. We suggest approaches for influencing behavior and changing perceptions using available resources.
肥胖及其他慢性病的增加持续推动着人们改变生活方式行为。然而，许多策略并未考虑环境对生活方式行为的影响，尤其是对健康饮食摄入的影响。本研究探讨了北卡罗来纳州22个家庭诊所招募的2479名参与者对环境与水果和蔬菜摄入量之间关系的看法。
对参与者进行了健康和社会人口统计学调查。通过焦点小组、半结构化个人访谈、社区绘图和照片等方式，对32人的子样本进行了形成性评估。访谈和讨论内容被转录，并使用ATLAS.ti 5版本进行内容分析。对调查数据进行了均值、频率和组间差异评估。
2479名参与者的平均年龄为52.8岁，平均体重指数（BMI）为29.4，主要为女性、白人、已婚且是高中毕业生。32名子样本参与者年龄更大、体重更重且受教育程度更低。一些与饮食摄入相关的背景因素的普遍看法包括味蕾疲劳（对常见食物感到厌倦）、生活压力、膳食计划缺乏前瞻性、当前健康状况、经济状况、园艺能力、一生的饮食经历、对食品安全的担忧、媒体相互矛盾的营养信息以及多变的工作时间表。
对水果和蔬菜摄入量的看法受到个人（内在）和社区（外在）环境因素的影响。我们建议利用现有资源来影响行为和改变看法的方法。
