DescriptionThe purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between the dependent variables of dietary intake and physical activity and of the independent variables (a) knowledge of risk factors for type 2 diabetes (T2DM) and (b) perceived risk. The researcher further planned to examine the relationship between perceived risk and knowledge of risk factors by testing two meditational models with the variables of dietary intake and physical activity. The Children’s Health Belief Model (Bush and Iannotti, 1990) was used in this study as the conceptual framework for testing the theoretical relationships.
Participants were recruited from two private high schools and two Boy Scout troops in the New York City area. One high school (all girls) has approximately 400 students. The other high school (all boys) has approximately 500 students. The final sample consisted of 80 participants: males (n =35) and females (n = 45) aged from 13-18 years (M =16.1, SD = 1.14). The participants were Caucasian (n=62, 77.5%), Hispanic (n=6, 7.5%), Black (n=2, 2.5%) and Asian (n=2, 2.5%).
Participants completed the following instruments: (1) Knowledge of Risk Factors for T2DM, (2) Health Beliefs for T2DM, (3) Godin-Shepard Leisure-Time Exercise Questionnaire (Godin & Shepard, 1997) and (4) the Demographic/Medical Questionnaire.
The findings in this study did not support the theoretical and empirical relationships between the independent variables of knowledge of risk factors for T2DM and perceived risk and the dependent variables of dietary intake and physical activity. However, the additional findings found significant relationships between the subsets of perceived risk; dietary intake and physical activity. The relationships may have not been identified in the tests of hypotheses because of the low alpha coefficients of the Knowledge of Risk Factors for T2DM and the Health Beliefs for T2DM instruments. Gender and BMI also appear to play a significant role in perceived risk. Implications for nursing practice were addressed.