A causal model of eating behaviors among Thai pregnant women working in industrial factories

Objective:This study aimed to examine the causal model of eating behaviors among pregnant women working in industrial factories.Methods:This cross-sectional study was conducted on 210 participants,attending 4 healthcare centers,at a tertiary care hospital in Chonburi province,Thailand.Data were collected using 7 questionnaires:demographic form,eating behavior questionnaire,perceived benefits of the healthy eating questionnaire,perceived barriers to the healthy eating questionnaire,perceived self-efficacy questionnaire,social support questionnaire,and accessibility to healthy foods questionnaire.Descriptive statistics and path analysis were used for data analysis.Results:The participants had relatively high mean scores for eating behaviors.The final model fitted well with the dataχ^(2)=12.86,df=10,P=0.23;χ^(2)/df=1.29;comparative fit index(CFI)=0.98;goodness-of-fit index(GFI)=0.98;adjusted goodness-of-fit index(AGFI)=0.95;root mean square error of approximation(RMSEA)=0.04.Four factors-perceived benefits(β=0.13,P<0.05),perceived self-efficacy in healthy eating(β=0.22,P<0.001),pregnancy planning(β=0.28,P<0.001),and accessibility to healthy foods in the factory(β=0.12,P<0.05)-positively affected eating behavior,while only perceived barriers to healthy eating had a negative effect on eating behavior(β=−0.24,P<0.001).All the above factors explained 27.2%of the variance in eating behaviors.Conclusions:Nurses or healthcare providers can apply these findings to create an eating behavior modification program,focusing on pregnancy planning,behavior-specific variables,and interpersonal and situational influence,to promote the nutritional status of pregnant women working in industrial factories.

Intervention package on stress management: Improving comprehensive well-being among nurses

Objective:The main objective of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of the stress management intervention package in improving stress-related burnout.Materials and Methods:An experimental study was done on 300 nurses selected by a nonprobability convenience sampling technique and a quasi-experimental one-group pre-and posttest research design was utilized.Modified expanded nurses stress scale and self-structured three-point Likert scale on the challenges that nurses may face following stressful life events utilized to collect information.The nurses signed up for six interactive sessions on various stress-coping methods by utilizing a variety of teaching strategies such as lecture cum discussion,video slides,group work,and direct interaction with the experts to explore stress-related issues.Results:Continuous stress affects both the body and the mind,causing psychosomatic symptoms.Data found that 2%to 10%of nurses frequently suffered with physical symptoms such as exhaustion,backache,acidity,headache,shoulder stiffness,and insomnia.Following the intervention,the number of nurses who had these symptoms frequently and sometimes decreased.Previously,10%of nurses experienced emotional symptoms frequently;however,after intervention,this figure was reduced to<2%.The greatest proportion of nurses(18%)reported frequently worrying,while 1.3%expressed frequent worrying after intervention.Maximum(5%)of nurses had a tendency to eat too little or too much;this has been reduced to 0.3%after the intervention.The intervention package on stress management significantly improved nurses’Conclusion:An intervention package for stress management was helpful in lowering physical,emotional,psychological,and behavioral stress-related symptoms among nurses.