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Registered Dietitian’s Personal Beliefs and Characteristics Predict Their Teaching or Intention to Teach Fresh Vegetable Food Safety

Casagrande, Gina M.

Abstract Details

2009, Master of Science, Ohio State University, Human Nutrition and Food Management.
In the United States, the most popular fresh produce is fresh-cut salads, with sales of $2.7 billion per year. Consumers may not be knowledgeable about fresh vegetable food safety and an increasing number of foodborne disease outbreaks are linked to fresh vegetable consumption. Registered dietitians (RDs) are considered the spokespeople for food and nutrition and therefore have a professional responsibility by standards of practice to incorporate food safety into their client/patient education. But, are they including this information in their client/patient education? This study used the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) to determine RD’s personal characteristics and beliefs about teaching fresh vegetable food safety that predict whether they currently teach, intend to teach, or neither currently teach nor intend to teach fresh vegetable food safety to their clients/patients. A survey was created for web implementation to determine three types of salient beliefs: normative (n), behavioral (b), and control (c). These were evaluated as three independent belief variables: Perceived Behavioral Control (PBC), Attitudes (Atd), and Subjective Norm (SN). Variables were evaluated using five-point Likert scales. Three hundred and twenty seven RDs who participate in direct client/patient education responded to this survey. Spearman correlation analysis was completed to determine the variables that correlated best with current teaching behavior. Multinomial logistical regression was conducted to determine if the TPB belief variables significantly predicted RD’s teaching behavior. Binary logistic regression was used to determine which variable was the better predictor of whether the RD currently taught. After controlling for age, income, political philosophy, education, and gender, the multinomial logistical regression was significant (R2 =0.35, p≤0.001). Therefore the TPB significantly predicted RD’s current fresh vegetable food safety teaching behaviors. PBC was the better predictor of whether an RD currently taught fresh vegetable food safety (R2=0 .19, P≤0.001). Having confidence in fresh vegetable food safety knowledge, being socially influenced to teach, and having positive attitudes towards the behavior significantly affected whether an RD currently taught. These results may be used to create more effective food safety curriculum for RDs.
Lydia Medeiros, PhD (Advisor)
Jeffrey LeJeune, PhD (Committee Member)
Martha Belury, PhD (Committee Member)

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Citations

  • Casagrande, G. M. (2009). Registered Dietitian’s Personal Beliefs and Characteristics Predict Their Teaching or Intention to Teach Fresh Vegetable Food Safety [Master's thesis, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1252959923

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Casagrande, Gina. Registered Dietitian’s Personal Beliefs and Characteristics Predict Their Teaching or Intention to Teach Fresh Vegetable Food Safety. 2009. Ohio State University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1252959923.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Casagrande, Gina. "Registered Dietitian’s Personal Beliefs and Characteristics Predict Their Teaching or Intention to Teach Fresh Vegetable Food Safety." Master's thesis, Ohio State University, 2009. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1252959923

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)