Psychosocial predictors of fruit and vegetable consumption among elementary school children

A self-efficacy questionnaire for fruit and vegetable (F&V) consumption among fourth and fifth grade students was developed, pilot tested with 140 students from one school and field tested with 252 students from two schools. The questionnaire included 34 items generated by inventorying behaviors targeted for change in the F&V school curriculum. The four subscales derived from principal components analysis were labeled 'after-school F&V snacks'; 'breakfast and lunch F&V, and paying for F&V'; 'independent shopping for F&V'; and 'assisted shopping for F&V'; they accounted for 43.8% of the total variance. Subscale test-re-test reliabilities and internal consistencies were acceptable. Criterion validities against F&V consumption from food records were low. Relationships were stronger with preferences and outcome expectations. Results from stepwise regression analyses indicated that preferences were the only significant predictors of fruit and total F&V consumption, as well as the main predictor of vegetable consumption; however, the models accounted for less than 13% of the variance. Nutrition education programs which target preferences may be more effective in increasing F&V consumption among elementary school children than programs which target self-efficacy and outcome expectations. However, since preferences accounted for only small proportions of the variances, further research should consider other issues such as availability.