Abstract

OLIVARES C, Sonia et al. Motivation and barriers in the consumption of five daily servings of fruit and vegetables by mothers of school age children and primary school teachers. ALAN [online]. 2009, vol.59, n.2, pp.166-173. ISSN 0004-0622.

As a baseline for the promotion of health and the design of educational interventions, the benefits, barriers and stages of change related to the consumption of five daily servings of fruit and vegetables were studied in 463 mothers of school age children from different socioeconomic levels (SEL) and 412 primary school teachers in 3 cities in Chile. These groups were selected because of their influence over children’s eating habits. For the evaluation of stages changes, a questionnaire designed by the American Institute for Cancer Research was adapted and applied. The questionnaire was answered voluntarily by the participants. 58% of the mothers and 60% of the teachers ate 1-2 servings of fruit and vegetables daily; 29.4 and 32.3% ate 3-4 servings and only 10 and 4% respectively ate 5 servings. Benefits reported from fruit and vegetable consumption in both groups were pleasure, wellness, a sense of well being and weight management. Barriers mentioned were forgetfulness, time constraints, non-satisfaction of appetite and lack of motivation. The price of fruit and vegetables was considered high by 15.1% of mothers of medium high SEL and by 26.4% of medium low SEL (p<0.002). Among teachers, 25.4% of men and 11.7% of women also considered price as a barrier (p<0.002). Such results show that both mothers and teachers need specific interventions to improve their own motivation for eating more fruit and vegetables and to thus support this healthy eating habit in children

Keywords : Stages of change; attitudes; fruit and vegetable consumption; mothers of school age children; primary school teachers.