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SYSTEMATIC REVIEW article

Front. Sustain. Food Syst.
Sec. Nutrition and Sustainable Diets
Volume 9 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fsufs.2025.1465622

Influencing Factors of Adherence to Sustainable Diets: A Systematic Review of Behavioral Theories

Provisionally accepted
Seyedeh Fatemeh Fatemi Seyedeh Fatemeh Fatemi 1Hadi Tehrani Hadi Tehrani 1Maryam Khosravi Maryam Khosravi 1Hassan Doosti Hassan Doosti 2Niloufar Rasaei Niloufar Rasaei 3Seyyed Reza Sobhani Seyyed Reza Sobhani 1*
  • 1 Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran
  • 2 School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
  • 3 Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Tehran, Iran

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    This systematic review aims to identify factors influencing adherence to a sustainable diet based on behavioral theories. We searched four databases, including PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, and Science Direct, for observational studies assessing sustainable food consumption according to the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), the Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA), and the Social Cognitive Theory (SCT) up to December 01, 2023. Additionally, the reference lists of original studies were screened, and 12 papers were analyzed. In identifying triggers for consumers' behavioral changes, we found that improving food choice skills is a valuable strategy to enhance an individual's perceived control and ability to adopt sustainable eating behaviors. The most recurrent predictors for sustainable food choices were attitudes, Perceived Behavioral Control, subjective norms, experience, and personal factors. This study provides valuable insights into the factors influencing consumer behavior and offers opportunities to promote sustainable food choices.

    Keywords: Theory of Planned Behavior, Sustainable diet, nutrition, food consumption, Systematic review

    Received: 16 Jul 2024; Accepted: 23 Jan 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Fatemi, Tehrani, Khosravi, Doosti, Rasaei and Sobhani. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Seyyed Reza Sobhani, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran

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