Poor eating habits are an important public health issue that has large health and economic implications. Many food preferences are established early, but because people make more and more independent eating decisions as they move through adolescence, the transition to independent living during the university days is an important event. To study the phenomenon of food selection, the heath belief model was applied to predict the likelihood of healthy eating among university students. Structural equation modeling was used to investigate the validity of the health belief model (HBM) among 194 students, followed by gender-based analyses. The data strongly supported the HBM. Social change campaign implications are discussed.

This paper makes the case for immediate planning for a COVID-19 vaccination uptake strategy in advance of vaccine availability for two reasons: first, the need to build a consensus about the order in which groups of the population will get access to the vaccine; second, to reduce any fear and concerns that exist in relation to vaccination and to create demand for vaccines. A key part of this strategy is to counter the anti-vaccination movement that is already promoting hesitancy and resistance. Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic there has been a tsunami of misinformation and conspiracy theories that have the potential to reduce vaccine uptake. To make matters worse, sections of populations in many countries display low trust in governments and official information about the pandemic and how the officials are tackling it. This paper aims to set out in short form critical guidelines that governments and regional bodies should take to enhance the impact of a COVID-19 vaccination strategy. We base our recommendations on a review of existing best practice guidance. This paper aims to assist those responsible for promoting COVID-19 vaccine uptake to digest the mass of guidance that exists and formulate an effective locally relevant strategy. A summary of key guidelines is presented based on best practice guidance.

Background: Social marketing managers promote desired behaviors to an audience by making them tangible in the form of environmental opportunities to enhance benefits and reduce barriers. This study proposed “benchmarks,” modified from those found in the past literature, that would match important concepts of the social marketing framework and the inclusion of which would ensure behavior change effectiveness. In addition, we analyzed behavior change interventions on a “social marketing continuum” to assess whether the number of benchmarks and the role of specific benchmarks influence the effectiveness of physical activity promotion efforts.Methods: A systematic review of social marketing interventions available in academic studies published between 1997 and 2013 revealed 173 conditions in 92 interventions.Results: Findings based on χ², Mallows’ Cp, and Logical Analysis of Data tests revealed that the presence of more benchmarks in interventions increased the likelihood of success in promoting physical activity. The presence of more than 3 benchmarks improved the success of the interventions; specifically, all interventions were successful when more than 7.5 benchmarks were present. Further, primary formative research, core product, actual product, augmented product, promotion, and behavioral competition all had a significant influence on the effectiveness of interventions.Conclusions: Social marketing is an effective approach in promoting physical activity among adults when a substantial number of benchmarks are used and when managers understand the audience, make the desired behavior tangible, and promote the desired behavior persuasively.

Summary: There has been a proliferation of digital sexual health interventions targeting adolescents; however, limited evaluative reviews have compared the effectiveness of multiple digital tools for sexual health literacy and behaviour change. This study conducted a systematic literature review, screened 9881 records and analysed 61 studies. Findings suggest that websites and mobile phones dominate digital sexual health interventions, with a majority effectively delivering cognitive (e.g. awareness and attitudes about sexual and reproductive health) and behavioural outcomes (e.g. abstinence and use of contraception). The most popular sexual health promotion mechanisms were interactive websites, text messaging and phone calls, and online education programmes, followed by mobile applications—fewer studies in this review utilized social media, games and multimedia. Previous reviews focused on single outcome measures (e.g. sexually transmitted infection testing) to assess interventions’ effectiveness. The current review moves beyond single outcome measures to cover a wider range of behavioural and non-behavioural sexual health issues and contexts covered in the literature. Four main categories were analysed as outcomes: cognitive perceptions, promoting sexual health-related behaviours, promoting sexual health-related products and services, and impact (viral load). Seventy-nine per cent of interventions focused on preventive sexual health behaviours and products (e.g. condoms) and services (e.g. HIV testing). Overall, 75% of studies effectively changed sexual health behaviour and cognitive perceptions. However, the digital-only tools did not vary from the blended formats, in influence outcomes, even after categorizing them into behavioural or non-behavioural outcomes. Compared to previous systematic reviews, more studies from the last decade used rigorous research design in the form of randomized controlled trials, non-randomized control trials, and quasi-experiments and lasted longer.

Parental support is the critical family-level variable linked to child physical activity (PA), yet the antecedents of support are poorly understood, and its relationship with intention is modest. The purpose of this study was to apply a framework designed to evaluate the intention-behavior gap, known as multiprocess action control (M-PAC), to understand parental support for regular child PA. Mothers (N = 1,253) with children 5-12 years of age completed measures of attitudes, perceived control over support, behavioral regulation tactics (e.g., planning, self-monitoring), and intention to support. Over half (58%) reported on subsequent support behaviors 6 months later. Three intention-behavior profiles emerged: (a) nonintenders (26.4%; n = 331), (b) unsuccessful intenders (36.6%; n = 458), and (c) successful intenders (33%; n = 414). Congruent with M-PAC, a discriminant function analysis showed that affective attitude about support (r = .18), perceived behavioral control over support (r = .55), and behavioral regulation (r = .55) distinguished between all 3 intention-behavior profiles. A disaggregated analysis of specific behavioral regulation tactics showed that most distinguished all 3 profiles, yet planning, information seeking, and monitoring were the critical correlates of the discriminant function. The majority of mothers had positive intentions to support regular child PA, yet over half failed to enact this support. Difficulty of intention translating into support behavior arises from compromised control over support, self-regulation skills, and perceptions that the support experience is unenjoyable. Interventions aimed at strengthening these factors are recommended to improve parental support action control.