Title: Determining habits in physical activity and diet

Authors: Nadja Walter

Addresses: Institute of Sport Psychology and Physical Education, Leipzig University, Leipzig, Saxony, Germany

Abstract: Developing healthy lifestyle habits is an essential part of behaviour change programmes in health and exercise psychology, and in clinical and healthcare settings. The Self-Report Habit Index (SRHI) is frequently used to assess habits, but does not apply pre-defined cut-off values. Yet, to measure effectiveness of these programmes, a cut-off value consistent with an optimal SRHI range would be useful. This study aimed to determine an optimal range for physical activity- and diet-related habits for the SRHI in 95 participants by means of a receiver operating characteristic curve. Results showed different SRHI scores and optimal ranges for both habit types. It is therefore recommended to differentiate between physical activity and diet habits in behaviour change programmes. The resulting optimal ranges could also be applied to behaviour change programmes aiming to reduce unhealthy behaviours such as smoking, alcohol drinking or disordered eating.

Keywords: self-report habit index; habits; physical activity; diet; behaviour change.

DOI: 10.1504/IJBHR.2021.118789

International Journal of Behavioural and Healthcare Research, 2021 Vol.7 No.4, pp.289 - 303

Received: 03 Feb 2021
Accepted: 22 Jun 2021
Published online: 06 Nov 2021 *

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