ArticleFrontiers in psychology2020
Testing a Self-Determination Theory Model of Healthy Eating in a South African Township.
Article in Frontiers in psychology, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers.
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Who cites it
11 citing papers in PubMed, 32 citations in OpenAlex.
- Process evaluation of a pragmatic implementation trial to support self-management for the prevention and management of type 2 diabetes in Uganda, South Africa and Sweden in the SMART2D project.BMJ open diabetes research & care · 2022Trial
- A Combined Network Analysis for Orthorexia Nervosa, Obsessive Compulsive, and Eating Disorder Symptoms.Nutrients · 2026Article
- Profiles of Health Behavior Motivation in a Chinese Population with Prediabetes and Its Association with Self-Management Ability: Based on Self-Determination Theory.Diabetes, metabolic syndrome and obesity : targets and therapy · 2026Article
- Article
- Facilitators and Barriers to Employment of Neurodivergent Individuals: A Systematic Literature Review of Employee and Employer Experiences.Journal of autism and developmental disorders · 2025Article
- Glucose monitoring, support systems, and motivating factors among individuals newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes: an explorative study in the Upper East Region, Ghana.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Development and Validation of an Instrument to Assess the Cognitive, Behavioral, and Environmental Factors Related to Sodium Intake in Adult Canadians: The Behavioral Assessment Instrument for Dietary Sodium.Current developments in nutrition · 2025Article
- Cross-Cultural Adaptability and Psychometric Validation of the Treatment Self-Regulation Questionnaire (TSRQ) for Application on the Persian-Speaking Type 2 Diabetes Patients.Patient preference and adherence · 2025Article
- Nutritional Status, Intentions and Motivations towards Adopting a Planetary Health Diet-A Cross-Sectional Study.Nutrients · 2023Article
- Motivational determinants of physical activity in disadvantaged populations with (pre)diabetes: a cross-cultural comparison.BMC public health · 2022Article
- Prevention and management of type 2 diabetes mellitus in Uganda and South Africa: Findings from the SMART2D pragmatic implementation trial.PLOS global public health · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors at 5 institutions in 4 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionThe burden of type 2 diabetes is growing rapidly in sub-Saharan Africa. Healthy eating has been shown to prevent the disease but is challenging to maintain. Self-determination theory offers a motivational framework for maintaining a healthy diet based on evidence from western settings. This study aims to assess whether self-determination theory can explain healthy diet behavior in a disadvantaged urban South African population.
methodsCross-sectional data from a South African township population (
resultsHealthy eating was positively associated (β = 0.26) with autonomous motivation, and negatively associated (β = -0.09) with controlled motivation. Perceived competence and relatedness were positively associated with healthy eating (β = 0.49 and 0.37) and autonomous motivation (β = 0.65 and 0.35), and negatively associated with controlled motivation (β = -0.26 and -0.15). Autonomous motivation mediated the effect of perceived competence and relatedness on healthy eating. The model supported a negative association between controlled and autonomous motivation.
conclusionThis is the first study providing evidence for self-determination theory explaining healthy eating in a disadvantaged sub-Saharan African setting among people at risk of or with diabetes type two. Our findings suggest that individuals who experience support from friends or family and who feel competent in adopting a healthy diet are more likely to become more motivated through identifying the health benefits of healthy eating as their goal. This type of autonomous motivation was associated with a healthier diet compared to individuals whose motivation originated in pressure from others or feelings of guilt or shame. Our recommendations for public health interventions include: focus on the promotion of diet-related health benefits people can identify with; encourage social support by friends or family; reinforce people's sense of competence and skills; and avoid triggering perceived social pressure or feelings of guilt.
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