Social support and self-efficacy for the consumption of fruit and vegetables by adolescents: "Gimme 5" - Fresh nutrition concept for students

Two psychosocial variables associated with initiation and maintenance of he althy diets are social support and self-efficacy. Questionnaires for assess ing social support and self-efficacy for fruit/vegetable consumption were d esigned for Gimme 5, a controlled 5-A-Day study with a high school cohort. Both questionnaires had good internal consistency and factor solutions cons istent with theoretical intent. Females had significantly higher family sup port and self-efficacy than males (p < 0.0001). Positive family support and self-efficacy were related to self-reported daily fruit/vegetable intake ( N = 1,786;p < 0.0001). Analysis revealed that negative family support and n egative or positive peer support were not relevant with this population for fruit/vegetable consumption. The Gimme 5 program was designed to use the p ositive effects of social support and self-efficacy for improving diet.