Comparing determinants of vegetable consumption rich in Inulin-type fructans of a student and representative sample

Abstract

The Food4Gut project focuses on the impact of vegetables that are rich in Inulin-type fructans to prevent and battle obesity. A questionnaire was administered that measures the prevalence of this vegetable consumption and its determinants drawing on theoretical models of health behaviour change (e.g. Theory of Planned Behaviour, Compensatory Health Beliefs, Transtheoretical model of Change) in both a student sample and a representative sample of the Walloon region of Belgium. A correlational, pilot study was conducted on a sample of 472 students. After performing correlational and factor analyses, the questionnaire was adapted and administered to a respresentative sample of the Walloon region using a mixed approach (1070 online questionnaires; 200 face-to-face interviews). Representativeness of Wallonia was obtained in terms of age, sex, level of education, province, density-level of residence and (un)employment. For vegetables in general, attitudes and subjective norms predict intention for both samples. Consumption is mainly predicted by habits, perceived control and intention in both samples. For salsify and Jerusalem artichoke, attitudes and subjective norms predict intention for both samples, compensatory health beliefs are additional predictors only in the representative sample. Consumption is predicted by intention, habits, past behaviour and external decision in the student sample, whereas for the representative sample intention is the sole predictor of consumption. The results for the student and representative sample are similar for most predictors, especially for vegetables in general. However for unknown vegetables there are bigger differences between student samples and representative samples that should be taken into account when implementing interventions.