(P16-018-25) A Content Analysis of Food Documentaries and Their Alignment With the Social Cognitive Theory

Objectives: Food documentaries are widely accessible through streaming platforms, making them valuable tools for education and health promotion, yet there is limited research on their content through the lens of health promotion theories. This study examined how food documentaries align with key constructs of the social cognitive theory (SCT).

Methods: A targeted search was conducted on Netflix, Amazon Prime, and YouTube, the top streaming platforms in the United States, for food documentaries released between January 2020 and December 2024. Eligible documentaries featured synopses highlighting dietary patterns consistent with the US Dietary Guidelines. Transcripts of selected documentaries were obtained through available subtitles and were independently reviewed and coded by two researchers using MAXQDA. Mentions related to SCT constructs including self-efficacy, observational learning, reciprocal determinism, outcome expectations, and reinforcement, were analyzed and categorized. The analysis involved frequency counts and coding density, expressed as the number of coded segments per minute of documentary length.

Results: Seven documentaries were eligible for analysis. All the documentaries included at least one SCT construct. Self-efficacy appeared in all the documentaries (100%), followed by observational learning (92%). The least frequent construct was reinforcement (71%). Among the overall coded segments, notable categories of self-efficacy included practical tips to build confidence (9.9%), and encouragement for positive change (6.2%). Observational learning featured expert demonstrations (5.5%), and success stories as models (6.3%), while outcome expectations featured expected results of behavior change (10.3%). The code density varied, with the highest at 0.7 coded segments per minute and the lowest at 0.2 coded segments per minute. Longer documentaries did not correlate with a higher number of coded segments.

Conclusions: Findings reflect a broad representation of SCT constructs in food documentaries with variability in their emphasis, demonstrating potential as tools for promoting behavior change.

Funding Sources: No funding was received for this research.