Explaining the Nutritional Behavior of Pregnant Women with Gestational Diabetes; Application of the Health Action Process Approach

Aims: Gestational diabetes is a medical complication. This study was conducted to investigate the role of HAPA in predicting diabetes control behavior and eating style in diabetic pregnant mothers referred to the healthcare centers of Abadan University of Medical Sciences (South of Iran). Instrument Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was done on 82 subjects selected by simple random sampling in 2021. Data were analyzed using SPSS 25 software. Findings: We found that 41.5% of mothers were in the age group of 21-30 years. Also, 43.9% were at the middle economic level. Among demographic variables, income was the strongest predictor of nutritional behavior (p=0.01, r=19.9, and β=-0.299). None of the model constructs alone predicted nutritional behavior in pregnant women. The HAPA model was able to predict 21% of the variance of the nutritional behavior among the subjects (p 0.001, r=0.210, and β=0.458). Conclusion: Behavioral intention and action planning are effective in educating pregnant women to prevent and control diabetes.