Integrating the Theories of Bandura, Maslow, Pavlov and Skinner in Constructing Conceptual Framework of Obesity-Related Behaviour Among TVET Adolescents

Overweight and obesity among adolescents have become one of the most pressing public health concerns in Malaysia, where the combined prevalence of overweight and obesity among adults rose from the mid-forty percent range in 2011 to 54.4 percent in 2023, and where roughly 30.5 percent of adolescents were classified as overweight or obese in the 2022 Adolescent Health Survey. Students in Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) institutions, particularly those enrolled in culinary arts, bakery and pastry programmes, represent a distinctive yet under-researched group because they are continuously exposed to energy-dense food during practical training. Most existing frameworks explain obesity-related behaviour through a single theoretical lens, which limits the capacity to capture the interaction between personal, environmental and behavioural determinants. This conceptual paper proposes an integrated framework that synthesises Bandura’s Social Cognitive Theory, Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, Pavlov’s Classical Conditioning and Skinner’s Operant Conditioning to explain overweight status among TVET adolescents. The four theories were selected against explicit criteria and assigned mutually exclusive explanatory jurisdictions, so that each accounts for a mechanism the others do not: reciprocal person–environment–behaviour interaction, motivational prepotency of basic needs, acquisition of cue-driven eating, and maintenance of behaviour through reinforcement. Drawing on a structured narrative synthesis of literature published between 2021 and 2026, conducted under a stated search and selection protocol, the paper advances eight numbered propositions linking gender, socioeconomic status, programme of study, dietary habits and physical activity to overweight status through self-esteem, and states for each proposition the supporting evidence and the strength of its current warrant. Self-esteem is specified as one candidate mediator rather than the only one, and competing specifications involving self-efficacy and broader psychological well-being are set out for competitive testing. Determinants that fall outside the behavioural model, including genetic predisposition, sleep duration, family food environment, food security and cultural dietary practice, are identified and assigned an explicit treatment as covariates or acknowledged limitations. The paper further specifies measurable indicators and instruments for every construct and a five-phase validation plan progressing from instrument piloting in Sabah, through structural equation modelling and a culinary versus non-culinary programme comparison, to multi-region replication with measurement invariance testing and longitudinal and intervention studies. The framework contributes a testable multi-theoretical structure to behavioural nutrition research and addresses a clear contextual gap concerning culinary TVET learners in Sabah, Malaysia. Implications for nutrition education, institutional policy and adolescent health promotion are discussed.

obesity, conceptual framework, learning theories, TVET adolescents, self-esteem

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