en public specific orginal article <strong>Background:</strong> Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are one of the major causes of mortality in the world. Incidence of such diseases has a direct relationship with lifestyle and nutrition. So, this study was conducted to investigate and compare knowledge, attitude, and self-efficacy of Kerman residents towards eating behaviors preventing CVD. <strong>Methods:</strong> In this descriptive-analytic cross-sectional study, 400 men and women aged 20 to 60 years were randomly selected. A 31-item questionnaire on knowledge, attitude, and self-efficacy regarding eating behaviors affecting CVD was used to collect the data. A panel of experts confirmed validity of the questionnaire. The questionnaire&rsquo;s internal reliability was confirmed through Cronbach&#39;s alpha coefficient (0.84) and test-retest method (0.71). <strong>Results:</strong> The study population included 202 women (54.9%) and 166 men (45.1%). The overall average scores of perceived knowledge, attitude, and self-efficacy out of 100, were respectively 84.15 &plusmn; 10.7, 47.84 &plusmn; 7.67, and 59.1 &plusmn; 16.57. In all three cases there was a significant difference between men and women (<em>P</em> < 0.05). Men with higher university education had a better attitude and knowledge about health condition; this was effective on men&rsquo;s self-efficacy. Being a full-time employee also increased women&#39;s self-efficacy. <strong>Conclusion:</strong> Although knowledge of the studied population was appropriate and their self-efficacy was in the middle level, the participants&#39; attitude was poor. Self-efficacy of women was significantly higher than men and proper eating behavior was affected by attitudes, skills, and environmental factors. Knowledge, Attitude, Self-efficacy, Eating behaviors, Cardiovascular diseases 279 287 http://jnfs.ssu.ac.ir/browse.php?a_code=A-10-1-49&slc_lang=en&sid=1 Samera Radmerikhi No Department of Health Education, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran. Vahid Ahmadi Tabatabaei No Social Determinants of Health Research Center, Institute for Futures Studies in Health, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran Yunes Jahani No Modeling in Health Research Center, Institute for Futures Studies in Health, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran Afsaneh Rajizadeh No Health Services Management Research Center, Institute for Futures Studies in Health, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran Mohabbat Mohseni Yes Social Determinants of Health Research Center, Institute for Futures Studies in Health, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran