Mind the gap: factors influencing the translation of Nutrition Knowledge into Practice Intention, a case of two South African rural communities

Abstract

This research set out to understand the factors that influence or hinder the adoption of new nutrition practices. Specifically, it seeks to understand why nutrition education leads to behaviour change for some but not others. Nutrition education has provided insights into what factors have a positive effect on diet and health, but they do not explain why factors might inhibit or promote behaviour change following a nutrition education intervention. That is, while studies show that factors change dietary behaviours through nutrition education, they do not explain why such change happens or might not happen. This is the problem of the Value Action Gap, where people have specific knowledge and values but do not act on it. In exploring why the barriers in the Value Action Gap arise and how this influences intention, this researches uses an integrated framework that combines elements of the Theory of Planned Behaviour and the Value Action Gap within the framework of the Social Practice Theory. It assumes that knowledge is part of social and material practices in which behaviour is embedded and through which barriers can arise and in which moment of disruption can happen. The Theory of Planned Behaviour is used to examine how during these disruption practitioners reassess the practice and practice performances. The assumption is that this reassessment process shapes the intention of a practitioner. The study was done in two rural villages in Northern South Africa and found that real change in food practices will not come from knowledge alone, it requires reshaping the social context in which choices are made. If we want to go from knowledge to action we must tackle cultural norms, social pressures, gender roles, and material barriers that shape practice performances. Only then can nutrition education truly reconfigure practices and nutrition related behaviour.