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Can Exercising and Eating Healthy Be Fun and Indulgent Instead of Boring and Depriving? Targeting Mindsets About the Process of Engaging in Healthy Behaviors

This paper investigates mindsets about the process of health behaviors—the extent to which people associate physical activity and healthy eating with appealing (pleasurable, fun, indulgent) versus unappealing (unpleasant, boring, depriving) qualities—to promote greater engagement. Study 1 (N = 536)...

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Autores principales: Boles, Danielle Z., DeSousa, Maysa, Turnwald, Bradley P., Horii, Rina I., Duarte, Taylor, Zahrt, Octavia H., Markus, Hazel R., Crum, Alia J.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Media S.A. 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8546637/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34712186
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.745950
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author Boles, Danielle Z.
DeSousa, Maysa
Turnwald, Bradley P.
Horii, Rina I.
Duarte, Taylor
Zahrt, Octavia H.
Markus, Hazel R.
Crum, Alia J.
author_facet Boles, Danielle Z.
DeSousa, Maysa
Turnwald, Bradley P.
Horii, Rina I.
Duarte, Taylor
Zahrt, Octavia H.
Markus, Hazel R.
Crum, Alia J.
author_sort Boles, Danielle Z.
collection PubMed
description This paper investigates mindsets about the process of health behaviors—the extent to which people associate physical activity and healthy eating with appealing (pleasurable, fun, indulgent) versus unappealing (unpleasant, boring, depriving) qualities—to promote greater engagement. Study 1 (N = 536) examined how mindsets about physical activity and healthy eating relate to current and future health behavior. Study 2 (N = 149) intervened in actual fitness classes to compare the effects of brief appeal-focused and health-focused interventions on mindsets about physical activity and class engagement. Study 3 (N = 140) designed nutrition education classes that emphasized either the appeal or the importance of fruits and vegetables for health and compared its effects on mindsets about healthy eating and actual fruit and vegetable consumption. Holding more appealing mindsets about health behaviors predicts subsequent physical activity and healthy eating (Study 1). An intervention targeting mindsets about the appeal of physical activity promotes greater participation in fitness classes than emphasizing the importance of meeting activity guidelines (Study 2). Meanwhile, interventions targeting mindsets about the appeal of healthy eating increases in-class fruit and vegetable selection more than emphasizing the importance of eating nutritious foods (Study 3), however additional work is needed to sustain such changes in eating behavior. These studies suggest mindsets about the process of health behaviors can be influential and changeable factors in motivating physical activity and healthy eating.
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spelling pubmed-85466372021-10-27 Can Exercising and Eating Healthy Be Fun and Indulgent Instead of Boring and Depriving? Targeting Mindsets About the Process of Engaging in Healthy Behaviors Boles, Danielle Z. DeSousa, Maysa Turnwald, Bradley P. Horii, Rina I. Duarte, Taylor Zahrt, Octavia H. Markus, Hazel R. Crum, Alia J. Front Psychol Psychology This paper investigates mindsets about the process of health behaviors—the extent to which people associate physical activity and healthy eating with appealing (pleasurable, fun, indulgent) versus unappealing (unpleasant, boring, depriving) qualities—to promote greater engagement. Study 1 (N = 536) examined how mindsets about physical activity and healthy eating relate to current and future health behavior. Study 2 (N = 149) intervened in actual fitness classes to compare the effects of brief appeal-focused and health-focused interventions on mindsets about physical activity and class engagement. Study 3 (N = 140) designed nutrition education classes that emphasized either the appeal or the importance of fruits and vegetables for health and compared its effects on mindsets about healthy eating and actual fruit and vegetable consumption. Holding more appealing mindsets about health behaviors predicts subsequent physical activity and healthy eating (Study 1). An intervention targeting mindsets about the appeal of physical activity promotes greater participation in fitness classes than emphasizing the importance of meeting activity guidelines (Study 2). Meanwhile, interventions targeting mindsets about the appeal of healthy eating increases in-class fruit and vegetable selection more than emphasizing the importance of eating nutritious foods (Study 3), however additional work is needed to sustain such changes in eating behavior. These studies suggest mindsets about the process of health behaviors can be influential and changeable factors in motivating physical activity and healthy eating. Frontiers Media S.A. 2021-10-05 /pmc/articles/PMC8546637/ /pubmed/34712186 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.745950 Text en Copyright © 2021 Boles, DeSousa, Turnwald, Horii, Duarte, Zahrt, Markus and Crum. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
spellingShingle Psychology
Boles, Danielle Z.
DeSousa, Maysa
Turnwald, Bradley P.
Horii, Rina I.
Duarte, Taylor
Zahrt, Octavia H.
Markus, Hazel R.
Crum, Alia J.
Can Exercising and Eating Healthy Be Fun and Indulgent Instead of Boring and Depriving? Targeting Mindsets About the Process of Engaging in Healthy Behaviors
title Can Exercising and Eating Healthy Be Fun and Indulgent Instead of Boring and Depriving? Targeting Mindsets About the Process of Engaging in Healthy Behaviors
title_full Can Exercising and Eating Healthy Be Fun and Indulgent Instead of Boring and Depriving? Targeting Mindsets About the Process of Engaging in Healthy Behaviors
title_fullStr Can Exercising and Eating Healthy Be Fun and Indulgent Instead of Boring and Depriving? Targeting Mindsets About the Process of Engaging in Healthy Behaviors
title_full_unstemmed Can Exercising and Eating Healthy Be Fun and Indulgent Instead of Boring and Depriving? Targeting Mindsets About the Process of Engaging in Healthy Behaviors
title_short Can Exercising and Eating Healthy Be Fun and Indulgent Instead of Boring and Depriving? Targeting Mindsets About the Process of Engaging in Healthy Behaviors
title_sort can exercising and eating healthy be fun and indulgent instead of boring and depriving? targeting mindsets about the process of engaging in healthy behaviors
topic Psychology
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8546637/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34712186
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.745950
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