In Their Own Words: Parents and Key Informants’ Views on Nutrition Education and Family Health Behaviors
Open Access
- 1 August 2021
- journal article
- research article
- Published by MDPI AG in International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
- Vol. 18 (15), 8155
- https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18158155
Abstract
Parents, health professionals, and communities are integral in the development of nutrition behaviors that reduce children’s risk for high body mass index (BMI) and chronic disease. The aim of this study was to conduct formative evaluations with key health informants and parents to understand the specific strategies that families use at mealtimes to promote their family’s health, along with the barriers they face in attending current nutrition education programming. Focus groups (in English and Spanish) were conducted with parents (n = 22; 63.64% Black/African American, 13.64% Black but not African American, 18.18% Hispanic/Latinx) whose household was located in a community where 50% of residents’ gross income was ≤185% of the federal poverty level. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with six key informants with expertise in family health and nutrition. Inductive thematic analysis was used to identify themes across interviews. Six general themes emerged from the interviews including perceptions of health, relationships, health behaviors, facilitators, barriers, and desired changes. Across the six themes, participants responded with suggestions for community-based health promotion programs such as incorporating a broader definition of health to better address the individual and systemic barriers that perpetuate health inequities and make healthy eating difficult. Participants identified stress reduction, health literacy, and cooking knowledge as areas of interest for future programming.Funding Information
- Common Threads (Community Insight Grant)
This publication has 37 references indexed in Scilit:
- Perceptions of healthy eating and physical activity in an ethnically diverse sample of young children and their parents: the DEAL prevention of obesity studyJournal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics, 2012
- Initial and Sustained Participation in an Internet-delivered Long-term Worksite Health Promotion Program on Physical Activity and NutritionJournal of Medical Internet Research, 2012
- Trends in Energy Intake among US Children by Eating Location and Food Source, 1977-2006Journal of the American Dietetic Association, 2011
- Does Behavioral Intention Predict Nutrition Behaviors Related to Adolescent Obesity?ICAN: Infant, Child, & Adolescent Nutrition, 2011
- Interventions that involve parents to improve children's weight‐related nutrition intake and activity patterns – what nutrition and activity targets and behaviour change techniques are associated with intervention effectiveness?Obesity Reviews, 2011
- Using Social Marketing to Understand the Family Dinner with Working MothersEcology of Food and Nutrition, 2010
- Parents' Food Choices: Obesity Among Minority Parents and ChildrenJournal of Community Health Nursing, 2010
- The family environment and American adolescents’ risk of obesity as young adultsSocial Science & Medicine (1982), 2006
- Using thematic analysis in psychologyQualitative Research in Psychology, 2006
- Familial Approach To The Treatment Of Childhood Obesity: Conceptual ModelJournal of Nutrition Education, 2001