Effective factors on nutrition behaviors of pregnant women based on the beliefs, attitudes, subjective norms, and enabling factors model: A cross‑sectional study

One of the useful models in health education is the Beliefs, Attitudes, Subjective Norms, and Enabling Factors (BASNEF) model. The model is used to study behavior and to plan for change it and to determine the factors that influence people’s decision‑making. The aim of this study was to investigate the factors affecting the nutritional behavior of pregnant women based on BASNEF model.

This cross‑sectional study was performed on 360 pregnant women referring to health centers of Tabriz‑Iran by two‑stage cluster sampling method from April to December 2016. Data were collected using sociodemographic, nutrition subdomain of Health Promoting Lifestyle‑II (HPLP‑II), and researcher‑made questionnaire based on constructs of BASNEF model. Data were analyzed using the SPSS software version 21 and Pearson correlation test and General Linear Model (GLM).

Mean ± standard deviation (SD) of nutrition subdomain of HPLP‑II was 24.65 ± 4.75 within the range 9–36. Mean ± SD of BASNEF model constructs (score range) was also obtained as 45.30 ± 10.80 (0–100), 17.98 ± 2.40 (8–24), 9.30 ± 2.82 (0–20) and 2.47 ± 1.74 (0–6) for belief, attitude, subjective norms, and enabling factors, respectively. Based on the GLM, there was significant relationships between nutritional behavior and BASNEF model constructs (belief [P < 0.001], attitude [P = 0.043], enabling factors [P < 0.001], and subjective norms [P = 0.038]) as well as the variables of job, husband’s education, and job and sufficiency of income for expenses.

The results of the present study showed the impact of BASNEF model constructs and some sociodemographic variables on nutrition behaviors in pregnant women. Therefore, in order to improve nutrition behaviors of pregnant women, designing and implementation of interventions based on the BASNEF model are recommended.