| The objective of phase I study was to establish internal reliability and construct and discriminant validity of selected constructs s adapted from the Health and Taste Attitudes Questionnaire developed in Finland and the Food Choice Questionnaire developed in England for use with low-income mothers in the United States. A convenience sample of 211 non-pregnant women was recruited from Head Start and Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program in South-central Wisconsin. Variables measured were predisposing, enabling, and reinforcing factors of the PRECEDE-PROCEED model. Factor analyses were performed. After modification, the resulting measurement models of predisposing, enabling, and reinforcing factors demonstrated good internal reliability and construct and discriminant validity. Items previously developed with European adults demonstrated different pattern structures in predisposing and enabling factors but the same structures for reinforcing factors when applied to low-income mothers in the United States.; The objectives of phase II study were to determine whether predictors of fat intake behaviors were the same for normal weight or obese low-income mothers and to identify predictors for each group. A convenience sample of 581 normal weight or obese women was recruited from WIC program sites in southern Wisconsin. Independent variables included predisposing (beliefs in diet and health, beliefs in diet and body shape, health concerns in food choice, health concerns in nutrition), enabling (cost of food, availability of time to prepare food, accessibility to purchase food), and reinforcing (weight control, sensory appeal, mood) factors. The dependent variable was fat intake behaviors. Structural equation modeling was performed. After controlling for covariates, factors affecting fat intake behaviors differed between the normal weight and obese groups. Reinforcing and enabling but not predisposing factors were important in determining fat intake behaviors for the obese group. For the normal weight group, only reinforcing factors affected fat intake behaviors. Interventions to modify low-income mother's fat intake behaviors may benefit by targeting behavioral predictors that differ with body size. Messages that emphasize reinforcing factors are likely to affect both normal weight and obese women. Information about enabling factors is likely to be more effective with obese women. |
