Using a Health Behavior Theory to Design a Nutrition Program

 Poor nutrition can lead to obesity, diabetes, and heart disease, but eating healthy is challenging. It’s a complex health behavior that requires an individual to change and maintain that behavior. Health behavior theories help us think about the proximate and sometimes (depending on the model) distinct factors that influence the behavior. Scenario: You work for your State Department of Health and are developing a nutrition intervention for low-income adults who have been recently diagnosed with Type-2 diabetes. (Their diabetes is generally well-controlled.) Which health behavior theory will you use to develop your intervention? How will you incorporate the theoretical constructs into the intervention or wellness program? In two pages, briefly summarize your intervention and create a table with two columns. On the left side, list the theoretical constructs of the health behavior model you are using to help design your intervention. On the right side describe how that concept is included in your intervention. (There is an example of this kind of table in the module notes.) You may also want to describe your target population in more detail.