The objectives of patient-centered counseling for dietary change include increasing awareness of diet-related risks, providing nutrition knowledge, enhancing skills to promote long-term changes in intake, and _____.

• A. Reinforce patient values
• B. Increase confidence for making dietary changes
• C. Solicit social support from family members and friends
• D. Identify and minimize external barriers to change

Answer: (B)

Building confidence to make dietary changes drives action and maintenance. In patient-centered counseling, delivering information and teaching skills sets the stage, but the key is fostering the patient’s belief that they can actually apply these changes in real life. When self-efficacy is high, individuals are more likely to set realistic goals, plan steps, adapt to obstacles, and persist over time, leading to lasting dietary changes. That’s why increasing confidence for making dietary changes is the best fit for completing the sequence of objectives: awareness, knowledge, and skills all support change, but belief in one’s ability to execute those changes turns intent into action.

Reinforcing values can help motivation, and seeking social support or addressing external barriers are valuable aspects of counseling, but they don’t capture the essential driver of sustained behavior change as directly as boosting the patient’s confidence does.