The effect of goal setting on fruit and vegetable consumption and physical activity level in a web-based intervention

Background: Most people do not meet the recommendations for fruit and vegetable consumption and physical activity. Goal setting has been shown to increase health related behaviors such as these, but there has not been extensive research. Objective: The purpose of this study was to further explore the relationship between goal setting and fruit and vegetable consumption and physical activity to see if it could have a positive impact as part of a web-based intervention for young adults. Design: This study has a prospective, descriptive design. It is a secondary analysis of data from a previous research study with an experimental design. The intervention included ten online lessons that provided information about fruit and vegetable consumption and physical activity. Participants/Setting: Participants were from the experimental group of the original study (n=830). The study took place at 8 universities across the nation. Participants were 18 to 24 years (19.16 ± 1.15), mostly female (64%) and mostly white (79%). Main outcome measures: Intake of fruits and vegetables and physical activity completed were reported weekly along with weekly goal setting. Statistical analyses performed: ANOVAs were used to determine effects of time. Paired t-tests were used to explore the relationship between goals set and actual fruit and vegetable intake and physical activity done. Goal attainment score was calculated and summation was used to determine goal group. ANCOVA was used to look at group effect. Chi squared was used to look at the association between group and whether or not participants met recommendations at the end of the intervention. Results: There was a significant effect of goal setting on both fruit and vegetable consumption and physical activity. The effect was seen more clearly with fruit and vegetable consumption as the difference between goal and intake decreased over time, the correlation grew stronger, and the percent of subjects meeting or exceeding goals and percent of subjects meeting recommendations increased over time. For physical activity, the difference and correlation between goal and activity done remained consistent throughout, and the percent of subjects meeting or exceeding goals decreased over time with no significant change in percent of subjects meeting recommendations. There was a significant effect of goal group for both behaviors, which was again seen more clearly with fruit and vegetable consumption. Conclusions: Goal setting as part of a web-based intervention was effective in increasing fruit and vegetable consumption among young adults. While this study did show a significant effect of goal setting on physical activity level, it did not show increases in physical activity level. Perhaps goal setting needs to look different when exploring its relationship to maintain versus change a behavior. There is a need for further research in this area, particularly with more reliable measures of intake and activity