Adolescent food choice: an application of the Theory of Planned Behaviour

There is consensus among recent studies that adolescents' diets are nutritionally far from ideal. In an effort to increase understanding of the factors affecting food choice decisions in this age group, Ajzen's ‘Theory of Planned Behaviour’ was employed. Six hundred and seventy-five adolescents, comprising both males and females, from two age groups and two types of school, completed a questionnaire which focused on intentions to eat three common foods at lunchtime. Attitudes and perceptions of control were the components of the model found to account for the most variance in intentions. The addition of a novel measure of friends' behaviour increased the model's explanatory power further. Significant gender and age differences in attitudes, beliefs, levels of dietary restraint and perceived social pressure were present; effects of social background and type of school upon these variables were minimal.

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