Perceived behavioral control as a potential precursor of walking three times a week: Patient’s perspectives

Background: Behavior change theories can identify people’s main motivations to engage in recommended health practices and thus provide better tools to design interventions, particularly human centered design interventions. Objectives: This study had two objectives: (a) to identify salient beliefs about walking three times a week for 30 minutes nonstop among patients with hypertension in a low-resource setting and, (b) to measure the relationships among intentions, attitudes, perceived social pressure and perceived behavioral control about this behavior. Methods: Face-to-face interviews with 34 people living with hypertension were conducted in September-October 2011 in Lima, Peru, and data analysis was performed in 2015. The Reasoned: Action Approach was used to study the people’s decisions to walk. We elicited people’s salient beliefs and measured the theoretical constructs associated with this behavior. Results: Results pointed at salient key behavioral, normative and control beliefs. In particular, perceived behavioral control appeared as an important determinant of walking and a small set of control beliefs were identified as potential targets of health communication campaigns, including (not) having someone to walk with, having work or responsibilities, or having no time. Conclusions: This theory-based study with a focus on end-users provides elements to inform the design of an intervention that would motivate people living with hypertension to walk on a regular basis in low-resource settings

Self-regulation of the Peruvian food industry: health message cues in the context of food and beverage advertisements

One strategy to prevent the onset of non-communicable diseases is to motivate healthy lifestyles through health media messages. In Peru, the food industry is currently implementing such strategy with health message cues, in the form of a small icon of a walking person or a healthy dish, appearing on televised food and beverage advertisements. Yet the extent of this practice is unknown. Thus, the objective of this study was three-fold: to identify (1) the food and beverage advertisements showing health cues, (2) the types of health cues, and (3) their length in time

Peer Networks and Intention to Consume Unhealthy Food: The Association Through Cognitive Mediators in Peruvian Adolescents

This cross-sectional study examined the mediating role of three reasoned action approach (RAA) constructs—attitudes, perceived social pressure, and perceived behavioral control—on the relationship between peer networks and intention to consume unhealthy food. The authors examined self-reported data of a sample of 277 adolescents from public and private schools in Lima, Peru. Results revealed a total mediating effect of the reasoned action constructs; yet attitudes and perceived behavioral control, but not perceived social pressure (injunctive and descriptive norms), mediated the relationship between peer network and intention to consume unhealthy food. Explanations for these results are discussed in light of social cognitive theory and Ajzen and Fishbein’s postulates about specific attitudes. Finally, we discuss how school nurses can take advantage of RAA variables to influence food environments, use peer networks for reducing unhealthy food consumption, and organize workshops to inform parents about the mechanisms that promote junk food intake

Parental Monitoring of Children’s Television Viewing in a Sample of Peruvian Caregivers

Parental monitoring of children’s television viewing is an important family practice that helps children understand the messages they find on advertisements and program content. Research points at different dimensions of monitoring, including parental coviewing, rules about when and how much time children can watch television, and active parental mediation. The study describes different dimensions of parental monitoring in a sample of 303 caregivers of primary school children living in Lima. Main findings reveal that about a third of the sample engaged in parental monitoring never, rarely or sometimes, the education level of the caregiver was positively associated with limiting the time children can watch television, and that child’s age was negatively associated with the frequency of active mediation and limits on the content children may watch on TV. Further research is needed in order to understand the practice of parental monitoring across children’s age groups in the context of Peru

Comunicación y salud

La comunicación en salud es un tema relevante y consolidado en todo el mundo; sin embargo, es débil en las escuelas de comunicaciones y de salud pública de América Latina, donde ambas disciplinas casi no conversan entre sí, salvo en materias muy específicas. Este número especial de Cuadernos.info busca llenar este vacío ofreciendo una serie de artículos que tratan tanto de cuestiones teóricas como prácticas en esta área, enfocándose en una perspectiva Iberoamerica

Data on gender representation in food and beverage print advertisements found in corner stores from Guatemala and Peru

Data on gender representation in food and beverage advertisements may allow for a better understanding of how the food industry is targeting different audiences based on gender. Nonetheless, scant research on food and beverage print advertising with a gender approach has been conducted. Therefore, we sought to assess the prevalence of gender focus in print advertisements found inside corner stores in two cities: Guatemala City, Guatemala, and Lima, Peru. Data description: We developed two complementary datasets as part of the study: (1) a dataset of digital photographs of 200 food and beverage print advertisements found in corner stores located near schools (100 ads per country selected according to criteria such as product type, image quality, and uniqueness); (2) a quantitative dataset with data of the content analysis of these photographs. We employed 19 variables to record the general information and gender assessment of the ads. These datasets should allow scholars and public officials to identify gender-specific marketing strategies of the food industry that might impact children’s and adolescents’ nutrition differently.Los datos sobre la representación de género en los anuncios de alimentos y bebidas pueden permitir una mejor comprensión de cómo la industria alimentaria se dirige a diferentes audiencias en función del género. No obstante, se han realizado escasas investigaciones sobre publicidad impresa de alimentos y bebidas con enfoque de género. Por lo tanto, buscamos evaluar la prevalencia del enfoque de género en los anuncios impresos que se encuentran dentro de las tiendas de la esquina en dos ciudades: Ciudad de Guatemala, Guatemala y Lima, Perú. Descripción de los datos: Desarrollamos dos conjuntos de datos complementarios como parte del estudio: (1) un conjunto de datos de fotografías digitales de 200 anuncios impresos de alimentos y bebidas que se encuentran en tiendas de esquina ubicadas cerca de las escuelas (100 anuncios por país seleccionados de acuerdo con criterios como el tipo de producto, calidad de imagen y singularidad); (2) un conjunto de datos cuantitativos con datos del análisis de contenido de estas fotografías. Empleamos 19 variables para registrar la información general y la valoración de género de los anuncios. Estos conjuntos de datos deberían permitir a académicos y funcionarios públicos identificar estrategias de marketing específicas de género de la industria alimentaria que podrían afectar la nutrición de niños y adolescentes de manera diferente

Gender representation in food and beverage print advertisements found in corner stores around schools in Peru and Guatemala

Objective: The objective of this study is to assess gender representation in food and beverage print advertisements. Results: The study follows a quantitative descriptive approach. Using a content analysis technique, we assessed the gender representation in 200 food and beverage print advertisements found in corner stores located in four areas around schools in Lima, Peru, and Guatemala City, Guatemala (100 advertisements per country). A total of 36% of the print advertisements exhibited a male main character for the case of Guatemala, while in Peru 14% of the print advertisements presented a male main character. Furthermore, in Guatemala, 22% of the main characters were male animated characters. Moreover, 27% of the print advertisements in Guatemala and 17%, in Peru were visually male-oriented. Overall, male characters appeared alongside sports references and in varied settings, whereas female characters were usually holding or consuming the product. In conclusion, although the majority of variables used to assess the representation of gender in food and beverage print advertisements were gender-neutral, those showing gender representation were mostly male-oriented. Despite its limited findings, the study provides evidence for the formulation of public policies and educational content aimed to protect children’s and adolescents’ health from the effects of food marketing