Current Dietary Practices and Stages of Change for Dietary Fat in Women

Abstract

LEARNING OUTCOME: To identify factors associated with the distribution of a sample of women from West Virginia across Prochaska & DiClemente's Stages of Change. To assist in developing nutrition interventions for reducing the risk of chronic disease in West Virginia women, 193 women were recruited from seven primary care sites throughout West Virginia for a study on health and nutrition. The study included a 24-hour diet recall, descriptive information and questions about beliefs, attitudes and knowledge of connections between diet and chronic disease. Women responded to a written survey including questions about dietary fat that allowed a staging algorithm based on Prochaska and DiClemente's stage model of change. Seventy six percent of the women were classified in the precontemplation, contemplation and preparation stages of change for dietary fat, while 24% of the women were in action or maintenance stages of change. Stage of change was significantly associated (χ 2, p<.05) with body mass, barriers to a low fat diet, activity level, self-rated diet, and self-rated health in a contingency table analysis. Stage of change was not significantly associated with knowledge of connections between diet and cardiovascular disease (CVD) or knowledge of fat content in foods. Number of barriers to a low fat diet, including cost, taste, enjoyment, restaurant eating, and family preferences, were significantly associated with stage of change and women who identified more barriers were more likely to be in earlier stages of change for fat. These results suggest that participants know food content and some of the components of a healthy diet, but the knowledge is not related to whether they have limited the fat in their diet; whereas the number of barriers identified to changing dietary fat is significantly related to whether they have successfully limited the fat in their diet. This suggests a priority for developing nutrition interventions that focus on reducing barriers to change.