Abstract
Background
Overweight and obesity prevention interventions rarely take into account the unique
role of fathers in promoting healthy home environments.
Objective
To use qualitative methodology to examine the views of Hispanic mothers of children
aged 2 to 5 years regarding fathers’ roles in promoting healthy behaviors at home.
Design
Nine focus groups were conducted in Spanish with Hispanic mothers of preschool-aged
children (N=55) from October to December 2015.
Participants/settings
Hispanic mothers were recruited from churches, community agencies, and preschools
located in five Zip codes in the southwest part of Oklahoma City, OK.
Analysis
Questions examined the views of Hispanic mothers regarding fathers’ roles in promoting
healthy behaviors at home. Focus groups were audiorecorded, transcribed in Spanish,
translated into English, and coded and analyzed for themes by two coders using NVivo
version 10 software.
Results
Four themes were identified: fathers’ disagreement with mothers about food preferences
and preparation, fathers’ support for child’s healthy eating, fathers’ support for
child’s physical activity, and fathers’ lack of support for a healthy home food environment.
Fathers’ traditional expectations about the type of foods and portion sizes adults
should eat conflicted with mothers’ meal preparations. Mothers reported that, although
they favored eating low-calorie meals, the meals fathers preferred eating were high-calorie
meals (eg, quesadillas). In general, fathers supported healthy eating and physical
activity behaviors for their children. Supportive behaviors for children included
preparing healthy meals, using healthier cooking methods, grocery shopping with their
children for healthy foods, and asking the child to participate in household chores
and/or play sports. Fathers’ unsupportive behaviors included bringing high-calorie
foods, such as pizza, and sugary drinks into the home, using sweets and savory foods
for emotion regulation, and displaying an indulgent parental feeding style.
Conclusions
Mothers' views of fathers' perceived roles in child eating and physical activity,
and maintaining a healthy eating environment, have important implications for the
success of promoting healthy behaviors in the homes of Hispanic families.
Keywords
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Biography
K. R. Lora is a nutritionist, Center for Public Health and Health Policy, University of Connecticut Health, Farmington.
Biography
M. Cheney is a assistant professor, Department of Health and Exercise Sciences, University of Oklahoma, Norman.
Biography
P. Branscum is a assistant professor, Department of Health and Exercise Sciences, University of Oklahoma, Norman.
Article info
Publication history
Published online: February 24, 2017
Accepted:
January 4,
2017
Received:
March 22,
2016
Footnotes
STATEMENT OF POTENTITAL CONFLICT OF INTEREST No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
FUNDING/SUPPORT Funding for this study was supported by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences of the National Institutes of Health (award no. U54GM104938) to the Oklahoma Shared Clinical and Translational Resources (Karina R. Lora is pilot project awardee). The study sponsor did not have a role in the study design, collection and analysis of data, interpretation of findings, or manuscript writing.
Identification
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© 2017 by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.
