Putting habit into practice, and practice into habit: a process evaluation and exploration of the acceptability of a habit-based dietary behaviour change intervention
Open accessAbstract
BACKGROUND: Forming 'habit' - defined as a learned process that generates automatic responses to contextual cues - has been suggested as a mechanism for behaviour maintenance, but few studies have applied habit theory to behaviour change. This study used process evaluation data, taken from a randomised controlled trial of a healthy child-feeding intervention for parents previously shown to be effective, to explore the applicability to dietary behaviour change of predictions and recommendations drawn from habit theory. The intervention supported parents in pursuing child-feeding habit goals in three domains (giving fruit and vegetables, water, healthy snacks), over four fortnightly home visits. We explored whether (a) the habit-formation model was acceptable to participants, (b) better-specified habit-formation goals yielded greater habit gains, and (c) habit gains were sustained (d) even when subsequent, new habit goals were pursued. METHODS: Qualitative and quantitative data were taken from 57 parents randomised to the intervention arm, and so analyses presented here used a pre-post intervention design. Thematic analysis of post-intervention qualitative interviews evaluated acceptability, and self-reported habit goals were content-analysed. ANOVAs explored changes in habit strength, recorded at home visits and one- and two-month follow-ups, across time and goals. RESULTS: Participants understood and engaged positively with the habit-formation approach. Although many seemingly poorly-specified habit goals were set, goal characteristics had minimal impact on habit strength, which were achieved within two weeks for all behaviours (p's < .001), and were maintained or had increased further by the final follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: The habit-formation model appears to be an acceptable and fruitful basis for dietary behaviour change.
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The few interventions built on the three components of habit formation have yielded promising results for weight loss and consumption of healthy food in families.
“The few interventions built on the three components of habit formation have yielded promising results for weight loss (Carels et al. 2014, Lally et al. 2008) and consumption of healthy food in families (Gardner et al. 2014).”
From Psychology of Habit. (2016) · cites this paper as Gardner et al. 2014
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- Authors
- Gardner, B., Sheals, K., Wardle, J., & McGowan, L.
- Affiliations
- University College London (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Gardner, Benjamin
- Venue
- International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity
- Published
- 2014-10-30
- Volume
- 11
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 135-135
- ISSN
- 1479-5868 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC4216661
- OpenAlex
- W2171942449
- Cited by
- 182
- References
- 16
- Citations by year
- 2026: 6 · 2025: 13 · 2024: 14 · 2023: 8 · 2022: 17 · 2021: 22 · 2020: 58 · 2019: 6 · 2018: 16 · 2017: 9 · 2016: 9 · 2015: 4
- FWCI
- 11.40
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Locations
- International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- UCL Discovery (University College London) (submittedVersion)
- Research Portal (King's College London) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Research Portal (Queen's University Belfast) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Funders
- Cancer Research UK (14133)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Applied Psychology › Behavioral Health and Interventions
- Health Sciences › Nursing › Nutrition and Dietetics › Nutrition, Health and Food Behavior
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Behavioral and Psychological Studies
- Keywords
- habit formation, habit theory, dietary behavior change, child feeding, parental feeding practices, fruit and vegetable intake, water intake, healthy snacks, behavior maintenance, treatment acceptability, home visits
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Child, Child, Preschool, Diet, Feeding Behavior, Female, Follow-Up Studies, Fruit, Humans, Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice, Male, Middle Aged, Parents, Pilot Projects, Socioeconomic Factors, Vegetables, Health Behavior, Cluster Analysis, Young Adult, Food, Organic, Snacks
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