Is one theory better than another in nutrition education? A viewpoint: more is better.

Health behavior theories describe the relations among variables influencing a behavior and specify targets for facilitating behavior change. Nutrition education does not have a dominant theory specific to the discipline. Instead, constructs from multiple theories have been borrowed, primarily from the social sciences, and have been applied to describe or predict nutrition-related behaviors. However, current theories do not fully predict behavior or behavior change. A more effective approach may be to integrate distinct constructs from competing theories into one or more polytheoretical models that can be empirically tested and refined into a more comprehensive, tailored theory or set of theories specific to food and nutrition behavior changes. In our view, more than one will be needed to address the complex array of people, issues, and contexts that we routinely address in nutrition education and behavioral interventions.