Perceived barriers to healthy eating: a systematic review

Abstract

18 years. The protocol for the review was registered with PROSPERO International prospective register of systematic reviews (CRD42015027946). A search of three databases 1) OVID Medline 2) Embase and 3) Scopus, until October 2015 produced 2091 papers. After abstract and full paper screening, 92 papers published between 1996 and 2015 met our inclusion criteria. Most were cross-sectional studies (n = 88), while only 4 reported intervention studies. Participants in these studies were adults mean age for studies ranging from 23·8 years to 74·8 years. A total of 215 terms related to PBHE were identified. The number of PBHE in individual studies ranged from 1 to 21. A card sorting task involving 3 pairs of volunteers was undertaken to develop logical categories of PBHE. Few studies investigated facilitators of healthy eating helping to overcome these PBHE; this is an area that requires further investigation. The results of this study have important implications for researchers interested in behaviour change. The PBHE identified can inform the design of tailored, or personalised, interventions for adults 4.