Community supported agriculture programs: a novel venue for theory-based health behavior change interventions.

Local foods programs such as community supported agriculture programs (CSAs) and farmers' markets have increased greatly in popularity. However, little research has been conducted regarding the effect of involvement in local foods programs on diet-related attitudes and behaviors. A series of focus groups was conducted to identify the motives that propel individuals to join a CSA, the experiences of belonging to a CSA, and the diet-related outcomes of CSA membership. Using the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) as a framework to categorize findings, data suggest the potential of CSAs as a viable intervention strategy for promoting healthful diets and behaviors.

Review of food policy and consumer issues of mercury in fish.

Public health messages regarding seafood consumption are confounded by long standing dietary advice promoting the healthfulness of consuming fish and recent warnings concerning dangerous mercury levels in specified fish. The warnings vary by federal agency and are directed to vulnerable subpopulations, notably women of childbearing age, pregnant women, nursing mothers and young children. The issue of mercury in fish has received considerable media coverage, attention from consumer organizations and public policy review. The net result is an area of seemingly contradictory advice directed to consumers and health professionals on the type and quantity of fish safe to consume. This message that fish is nutritious and healthy is particularly understood by educated and affluent subpopulations who can afford a variety of fish in their diet. This review addresses the contradictory rhetoric and reviews the state and federal agency policy positions. It considers the arguments for and against disclosing mercury-related information and its anticipated impact on the extended health benefits of fish consumption versus the risk to vulnerable subpopulations. The issue of balancing and targeting healthy messages and dietary warnings on fish is important because within the U.S. childbearing population, it is conservatively estimated that 250,000 women may be exposing their fetuses to higher levels of methylmercury than is in federal public health guidelines; two million more may not be consuming enough low-mercury fish.

Views of health in the lay sector: a compilation and review of how individuals think about health.

The way lay people think about health and wellness influences their health and wellness-related behaviors. This article integrates and synthesizes the research conducted to understand lay health worldviews. We identify 18 themes that capture the findings about lay health worldviews. The themes fall into four categories: definitions of health, explanations for health, external and/or uncontrollable factors impinging on health, and the place health occupies in people's lives. The results lead to the observation that lay health worldviews--or health styles--are not understood in depth, particularly in US populations. Variation across the themes underscores the need for further descriptive research designed to understand consumers' ways of thinking about health and how the many changes in the professional and folk sectors affect lay worldviews. This has implications with respect to understanding consumers' health care behaviors and developing more effective communication strategies.