Association of awareness, intrapersonal and interpersonal factors, and stage of dietary change with fruit and vegetable consumption: A national survey

Purpose. To examine associations of awareness, intrapersonal and interperso nal factors, and stage of change with consumption of fruits and vegetables. Design. Nationally representative, random digit dial survey conducted in 19 97 with a response rate of 44.5%. Psychosocial correlates of fruit and vege table consumption were assessed using regression analyses. Setting. United States. Subjects. A total of 2605 adults who were 18 years and older. Measures. Awareness of the "5 A Day for Better Health" program and its mess age, along with stage of change; taste preferences; self-efficacy; and perc eived benefits, barriers, threats, social support, and norms related to fru it and vegetable consumption. Results. Awareness and intrapersonal and interpersonal factors explained 24 % of the variance in fruit and vegetable consumption beyond the 9% explaine d ly demographic characteristics. Knowledge of the 5 A Day message wa's ass ociated with a 22% increase in fruit and vegetable consumption. Self-effica cy for eating fruits and vegetables and taste preferences (affect) were the factors most consistently and strongly associated with both higher consump tion and higher likelihood of being in action or maintenance stages of chan ge. Affect and perceived barriers were more strongly associated with increa sed vegetables and salad than fruit. Conclusions. Dietary intervention programs to increase fruit and vegetable consumption should emphasize the 5 A Day message, increased self-efficacy, and ways to make vegetables more palatable and easily accessible. Understan ding the factors that influence dietary choices should be used when designi ng dietary interventions.