Increasing Fruit & Vegetable Intake Through the Health Belief Model in Socioeconomically Disadvantage Individuals of St. Lawrence County, New York

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate how effective an intervention designed using the Health Belief Model is on increasing fruit & vegetable intake. Design: Quasi-experimental Methods: Utilized qualitative and quantitative (with Mann-Whitney U Test). Participants were recruited through a program called Bonus Bucks at GardenShare organization. Data was collected through google forms with a pre and post-test. Setting: Online ZOOM platform. Pre-test & post-test through google forms. Participants: five participants completed the whole intervention online intervention. Intervention: Health Belief Model was utilized to change behavior. Three online sessions were utilized to cover key points in the Health Belief Model including health risks, health benefits, barriers and solutions to fruits and vegetables. Included education on prime seasons of fruits and vegetables and activities to engage participants like discussions and questions. Results: The intervention insignificantly changed fruit and vegetable intake. Behavior change based on the Health Belief Models perceived threats, benefits, solutions, and self-efficacy was insignificant. Conclusions and Implications: As this study is a pilot study further research is needed to eliminate limitations and decrease gaps in the intervention. The intervention to evaluate how effective an intervention based on the Health Belief Model was to increase