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A causal model of eating behaviors among Thai pregnant women working in industrial factories

Tatirat Tachasuksri

Tatirat Tachasuksri

Department of Maternal Newborn Nursing and Midwifery, Faculty of Nursing, Burapha UniversityMuang Chonburi, Thailand
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Tachasuksri, Tatirat
, 
Chanapa Ngamchay

Chanapa Ngamchay

Department of Maternal Newborn Nursing and Midwifery, Faculty of Nursing, Burapha UniversityMuang Chonburi, Thailand
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Ngamchay, Chanapa
 and 
Sivasankari Nadarajan

Sivasankari Nadarajan

Faculty of Nursing, Burapha UniversityMuang Chonburi, Thailand
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Nadarajan, Sivasankari
  
Jun 26, 2024
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Article Category: Original article
Published Online: Jun 26, 2024
Page range: 221 - 229
Received: Mar 09, 2024
Accepted: Apr 21, 2024
DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/fon-2024-0025
Keywords
© 2024 Tatirat Tachasuksri et al., published by Sciendo
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Objective

This study aimed to examine the causal model of eating behaviors among pregnant women working in industrial factories.

Methods

This cross-sectional study was conducted on 210 participants, attending 4 healthcare centers, at a tertiary care hospital in Chonburi province, Thailand. Data were collected using 7 questionnaires: demographic form, eating behavior questionnaire, perceived benefits of the healthy eating questionnaire, perceived barriers to the healthy eating questionnaire, perceived self-efficacy questionnaire, social support questionnaire, and accessibility to healthy foods questionnaire. Descriptive statistics and path analysis were used for data analysis.

Results

The participants had relatively high mean scores for eating behaviors. The final model fitted well with the data χ2 = 12.86, df = 10, P = 0.23; χ2/df = 1.29; comparative fit index (CFI) = 0.98; goodness-of-fit index (GFI) = 0.98; adjusted goodness-of-fit index (AGFI) = 0.95; root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) = 0.04. Four factors—perceived benefits (β = 0.13, P < 0.05), perceived self-efficacy in healthy eating (β = 0.22, P < 0.001), pregnancy planning (β = 0.28, P < 0.001), and accessibility to healthy foods in the factory (β = 0.12, P < 0.05)—positively affected eating behavior, while only perceived barriers to healthy eating had a negative effect on eating behavior (β = −0.24, P < 0.001). All the above factors explained 27.2% of the variance in eating behaviors.

Conclusions

Nurses or healthcare providers can apply these findings to create an eating behavior modification program, focusing on pregnancy planning, behavior-specific variables, and interpersonal and situational influence, to promote the nutritional status of pregnant women working in industrial factories.
Language:
English
Publication timeframe:
4 times per year
Journal Subjects:
Medicine, Assistive Professions, Nursing
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