Cognitive and Behavioral Processes and Its Stages of Change for Fruit and Vegetable Consumption among Nursing and Midwifery Staff of Ardabil Hospitals, 1395: Application of the Trans Theoretical Model

Inappropriate nutrition places employees at risk of being overweight or obese, and not only affect their health but also indirectly may affect patients. The trans-theoretical model is one of the most common models of health promotion. It is recognized as one of the ways of identifying and changing diet, especially increasing the consumption of fruits and vegetables. In this model, behavioral changes can be seen in stages. Therefore, this study designed to determine the status of cognitive and behavioral processes and its stages of change for fruit and vegetable consumption.
This cross-sectional study was conducted with the participation of 300 nursing and midwifery staffs of Ardabil hospital using systematic random sampling method. Data gathering instrument was a validated questionnaire to collect information on demographic characteristics, stages and the process of change for fruit and vegetables consumption. The data was analyzed by SPSS (ver. 23) to measure central tendency, spearman correlation test, ANOVA, and Post-hoc.
Average age and BMI of participants were 31±7.05 and 25.7±3.5 respectively. The majority of subjects (77.3%) were in the early stages of change (pre-contemplation, contemplation, and preparation) for fruit and vegetable consumption while, only 22.7% was in active stages (action and maintenance). The mean scores of cognitive and behavioral processes were at a higher level in the maintenance stage and the lowest in the contemplation. Finally, the mean scores of social liberation, environment re-evaluation, self re-evaluation, stimulus control and counter conditioning processes increased from the inactive stages to the active stages.
Findings support the effect of processes of change in fruits and vegetables consumption among nursing and midwifery staffs, so that using behavioral process of change such as stimulus control and self liberation can lead to positive progress in stage of change. We suggest educational programs to increase consumption of fruits and vegetables, particularly considering individuals’ current stages and processes of change.