Nutritional Health Belief Model for Understanding Motivational Health Behaviour of Farmers

Abstract

All people, whether educated or not, urban or rural, have cultural belief about the nutrition, health, causes of sickness or their remedial measures. Where professionals believe in substantial empirical evidence, farmers on the contrary rely more on observations, past experiences and accessibility of things needed to support their native lifestyle. According to a previous report (Satyapriya et al., 2020), the strengthening of internal Nutritional Health Locus of Control (NHLC) can help farmers feel more empowered and take charge of their nutrition and health. Thus their beliefs that rely more on cultural systems, can be revised in the light of new information and awareness. The ‘Health Belief Model’ (HBM) can be used alone or in combination with other models of learning theories and approaches, as the theoretical basis of a health education programs. Since no model or learning theory can explain or predict all aspects of health behavior, it will be more practical to combine compatible theories and models to create stronger health education programs. (Renuka et al., 2014). The HBM is often combined with: “Social learning theories and behavioral changes” in health education programs. In this study a Nutritional Health Belief Model (NHBM) has been used to understand the motivation to improve health, in context of anemia and nutritional health behavior among 100 farmers of backward districts of UP and Haryana in India. The sample of 100 farmers, was selected by simple random sampling technique. These districts in the 2 States were selected particularly due to their nutritional vulnerability. A basic framework has been designed to elucidate NHBM from the existing model health beliefs. Mokken’s Scaling Analysis (MSA) was used to select for a farmer’s perspective on nutritional health and motivational factors that influence their nutritional health beliefs. Since beliefs are related to health consciousness the relation between the major key factors of NHBM have also been reported in this study through Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA). NHBM complying to health consciousness and related key factors was the major deciding factor in agri-nutri linkage to health.