Table 3.
Characteristics of participants’ personalised habit goals and frequency of sub-optimal goals, by feeding domain
| Characteristic | Observed values | Verbatim examples † | Observed frequency | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (* = prejudged to be suboptimal) | |||||
| FV goals | Snack goals | Drink goals | |||
| (n =54) | (n =56) | (n =53) | |||
| Characteristics of target behaviours | ‘To give my child…’ | n (%) | n (%) | n (%) | |
| 1. Number of target behaviours | a. One behaviour | a. ‘… a bottle of water after school’ | 51 (94.4%) | 52 (92.9%) | 29 (54.7%) |
| b. Two behaviours* | b. ‘… milk in the morning and more water’ | 3 (5.6%) | 4 (7.1%) | 19 (35.8%) | |
| c. Three behaviours* | c. ‘… juice with breakfast, water with lunch and dinner and milk at bedtime’ | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) | 5 (9.4%) | |
| Total suboptimal goals | 3 (5.6%) | 4 (7.0%) | 24 (45.3%) | ||
| 2. Frequency of target behaviour | a. Once a day | a. ‘… a healthy afternoon snack’ | 49 (90.7%) | 43 (76.8%) | 10 (18.9%) |
| b. Twice a day or more | b. ‘… one vegetable with lunch and one with dinner’ | 2 (3.7%) | 3 (5.4%) | 6 (11.3%) | |
| c. Unclear or unspecified* | c. ‘… extra water during the day’’ | 3 (5.6%) | 10 (17.9%) | 37 (69.8%) | |
| Total suboptimal goals | 3 (5.6%) | 10 (17.9%) | 37 (69.8%) | ||
| 3. Behaviour specified in absolute or relative terms | a. Absolute | a. ‘… two vegetables with dinner’ | 50 (92.6%) | 53 (94.6%) | 29 (54.7%) |
| b. Relative* | b. ‘… more water’ | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) | 8 (15.1%) | |
| c. Combination of absolute and relative (where multiple behaviours specified) | c. ‘…one glass of fruit juice a day and more water’ | 4 (7.4%) | 2 (3.6%) | 16 (30.2%) | |
| d. Unclear* | d. ‘To choose a healthy snack from the list’ | 0 (0%) | 1 (1.8%) | 0 (0%) | |
| Total suboptimal goals | 0 (0%) | 1 (1.8%) | 8 (15.1%) | ||
| 4. Increase or decrease in target behaviour | a. Increase in healthy behaviour | a. ‘… more water’ | 54 (100%) | 52 (92.9%) | 22 (41.5%) |
| b. Decrease in unhealthy behaviour* | b. ‘… less fruit juice’ | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) | 4 (7.5%) | |
| c. Combination of increase in healthy and decrease in unhealthy behaviour (where multiple behaviours specified) | c. ‘… less milk and squash and more water’ | 0 (0%) | 4 (7.1%) | 24 (45.3%) | |
| d. Unclear or unspecified* | d. ‘… one cup of milk’ | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) | 3 (5.7%) | |
| Total suboptimal goals | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) | 7 (13.2%) | ||
| Characteristic of context | |||||
| 5. Type of cue | a. Time of day* | a. ‘… a healthy snack at 3 pm’ | 9 (16.7%) | 28 (50.0%) | 1 (1.9%) |
| b. During or after a meal | b. ‘… two vegetables with dinner’ | 40 (74.1%) | 0 (0%) | 9 (17.0%) | |
| c. During or after any other event | c. ‘… a bottle of water after nursery’ | 3 (5.6%) | 10 (17.9%) | 7 (13.2%) | |
| d. As a substitute for less healthy food | d. ‘… water instead of milk during the day’ | 1 (1.9%) | 1 (1.8%) | 7 (13.2%) | |
| e. None specified* | e. ‘… a cup of milk every day’ | 1 (1.9%) | 17 (30.4%) | 34 (64.2%) | |
| Total suboptimal goals | 10 (17.9%) | 45 (80.4%) | 35 (66.0%) | ||
| Total ‘goal suboptimality’ score** | 0 (non-suboptimal) | 39 (72.2%) | 9 (16.1%) | 7 (13.2%) | |
| 1 | 14 (25.9%) | 36 (54.3%) | 13 (24.5%) | ||
| 2 | 1 (1.9%) | 9 (16.1%) | 8 (15.1%) | ||
| 3 | 0 (0%) | 2 (3.6%) | 20 (37.7%) | ||
| 4 | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) | 5 (9.4%) | ||
| 5 (most suboptimal) | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) | ||
†Unless otherwise specified, all goals followed the words ‘to give my child…’ or equivalent. Emphases added. *Value deemed suboptimal for habit formation. **‘Suboptimality’ scores indicate the number of the five characteristics above on which the goal was deemed to be suboptimal.