Self-control, diet concerns and eater prototypes influence fatty foods consumption of adolescents in three countries.

As adolescent overweight has become a widespread problem in the developed world, it is timely to understand commonalities underlying dietary practices across countries. This study examines whether consumption of fruits and vegetables and fatty foods among adolescents in different countries is related to the same individual difference and social influence factors-in particular, adolescents' self-control, diet concerns and perceptions of typical (un)healthy eating peers (prototypes). We included 511 normal weight and overweight adolescents (14-19 years) from the United States, the Netherlands and Hungary, who completed a survey during class hours.

Cool and independent or foolish and undisciplined? Adolescents' prototypes of (un)healthy eaters and their association with eating behaviour.

Purpose: The Prototype/Willingness model states that adolescents' willingness to engage in health-related behaviours is determined by the favourability of prototypes of persons engaging in this behaviour. The objective of the present study is to systematically investigate the content and evaluation of adolescents' prototypes of (un)healthy eaters and examine their associations with eating behaviour.

Methods: Four studies (including a pilot study) were conducted that addressed the salience (N=79), the characteristics (N=287), and the evaluation (N=167) of eater prototypes, and their association with eating behaviour (N=97), respectively.