Use of the Health Belief Model for Weight Control Promotion Using Vegetarian Meal Plans

A health belief model is used to evaluate people's beliefs about health problems and predict engagement in health -promoting behaviors. Overweight and obesity are health problems that could be corrected by healthier diet. Eighty-seven employees of the Taipei Tzu Chi Hospital participated in a month-long program that offered 500-calorie vegetarian meals. The health belief model questionnaire was designed and administered. Body composition (weight, body mass index, body fat, body water, and muscle mass) was measured weekly. Additionally, the number of meals taken and visits to nutrition consultants were analyzed. Overall, a higher perceived susceptibility was related to a decrease in weight, body fat, and muscle. Higher perceived benefits or higher perceived barriers were both related to a decrease in weight and body fat, but to an increase in body water and muscle. In the overweight or obese group, a significant correlation was found between perceived barriers and weight. No significant relationship was found between the health belief model and the total number of meals or number of visits to nutrition consultants. Perceived benefits and barriers were significantly related to changes in weight, body fat, body water, and muscle. With vegetarian meal plans as the cue for action, the health belief model can be utilized to predict changes in body composition.

Automated summary

A health belief model was used to evaluate people's beliefs about health problems and predict their engagement in health-promoting behaviors. A study was conducted in which 87 employees of Taipei Tzu Chi Hospital participated in a one-month program offering 500-calorie vegetarian meals. The study found that higher perceived susceptibility and higher perceived benefits/barriers were related to changes in weight, body fat, body water, and muscle mass. In the overweight or obese group, perceived barriers were significantly correlated with weight.