Brazilian immigrant fathers’ perspectives on child’s eating and feeding practices: a qualitative study conducted in the United States

2020 ◽  
Vol 23 (17) ◽  
pp. 3211-3225
Author(s):  
Ana Cristina Lindsay ◽  
Gabriela Vasconcellos de Barros Vianna ◽  
Carlos André Moura Arruda ◽  
Amanda De Sá Melo Alves ◽  
Maria Helena Hasselmann ◽  
...  

AbstractObjectives:Brazilians comprise a rapidly growing immigrant Latino group in the USA, yet little research has focused on health issues affecting Brazilian children in immigrant families. As increasing evidence is documenting fathers’ influential role in their children’s eating behaviours and ultimately weight status, the current study sought to explore the Brazilian immigrant fathers’ perspectives and practices related to child’s feeding practices and their preschool-aged children’s eating.Design:Qualitative study using in-depth, semi-structured interviews. Interviews were conducted in Portuguese by native Brazilian research staff using a semi-structured interview guide. Interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. Transcripts were analysed thematically using a hybrid approach that incorporated deductive and inductive analytical approaches.Setting:Massachusetts.Participants:Twenty-one Brazilian immigrant fathers who had at least one child aged 2–5 years.Results:Results revealed fathers’ awareness of the importance of healthy eating for their children, their influence as role models and their involvement in feeding routines of their preschool-aged children. Moreover, fathers were receptive to participating in family interventions to promote their children’s healthy eating. Nearly all fathers reported wanting to learn more and to do ‘what’s right’ for their children.Conclusions:The current study provides new information about Brazilian immigrant fathers’ views about factors influencing their children’s healthy eating behaviours and paternal feeding practices. Future research should quantify fathers’ feeding styles and practices and solicit fathers’ input in the design of culturally appropriate family interventions targeting the home environment of preschool-aged children of Brazilian immigrant families.

2020 ◽  
Vol 23 (8) ◽  
pp. 1440-1449 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sharifah Intan Zainun Sharif Ishak ◽  
Yit Siew Chin ◽  
Mohd Nasir Mohd Taib ◽  
Zalilah Mohd Shariff

AbstractObjective:To explore the concepts of healthy eating and to identify the barriers and facilitating factors for dietary behaviour change in adolescents.Design:A qualitative study involving twelve focus groups.Setting:Two secondary schools in the district of Hulu Langat in Selangor, Malaysia.Participants:Seventy-two adolescents aged 13–14 years.Results:Adolescents had some understanding regarding healthy eating and were able to relate healthy eating with the concepts of balance and moderation. The adolescents’ perceptions of healthy and unhealthy eating were based on food types and characteristics, cooking methods and eating behaviours. Facilitators for healthy eating were parents’ control on adolescents’ food choices, feeling concern about own health and body, being influenced by other’s health condition, and knowledge of healthy or unhealthy eating. On the other hand, barriers for healthy eating were the availability of food at home and school, taste and characteristics of foods, and lack of knowledge on healthy or unhealthy foods.Conclusions:The findings contribute to a better understanding of the adolescents’ concept of healthy eating, as well as the facilitators and barriers to practising healthy eating. Future interventions should include a method of promoting the immediate benefits of healthy eating, the way to cope with environmental barriers for healthy eating, and increasing the availability of healthy food choices at home and in the school environment. The health and nutrition education programmes should also focus on educating parents, as they can be role models for adolescents to practise more healthful behaviours.


2020 ◽  
Vol 35 (6) ◽  
pp. 584-604
Author(s):  
Eleanor Shonkoff ◽  
Sara C Folta ◽  
Theodore Fitopoulos ◽  
Cynthia N Ramirez ◽  
Ricky Bluthenthal ◽  
...  

Abstract Less than 1% of children in the United States concurrently meet guidelines for fruit/vegetable intake, physical activity, screen time, and sugar-sweetened beverages. Prior evidence suggests that parents of this 1% potentially cope with stress differently. This qualitative study used a positive deviance-based approach to locate mothers whose children avoided negative feeding outcomes despite being ‘high-risk’ for obesity. Semi-structured interviews were conducted in Spanish for two groups: low-income, Hispanic mothers whose children were normal weight and met recommendations for fruits/vegetables and physical activity (n = 5); and a comparison group whose children had obesity and did not meet guidelines (n = 8). Topics included weight-related parenting practices, attitudes toward health, and stress management. Interviews were transcribed, translated, and coded using NVivo for theoretically driven thematic analysis. Results suggested that mothers viewed stress differently. Mothers of healthy weight children believed stress could be prevented, such as by paying children more attention or directing one’s attention away from stressors; comparison group mothers tended to report stress about managing their child’s eating and about financial worries. Future research is needed to understand the underlying sources of these differences (e.g. personality traits, coping practices) and test whether stress prevention interventions can promote healthy parental feeding practices.


Author(s):  
Penelope Love ◽  
Melissa Walsh ◽  
Karen J. Campbell

Background: Early childhood (2–5 years) is acknowledged as a critical time for the establishment of healthy behaviours. The increasing number of children and amount of time spent in childcare provides strong rationale to explore the important role that childcare services and childcare educators play in influencing healthy eating behaviours of young children in their care. Methods: This study used a qualitative exploratory approach to describe the knowledge, attitudes and practices of Australian childcare trainee educators’ regarding their role in the feeding of young children. Results: All participants agreed that feeding of young children was an important part of their role, but described challenges to the promotion of healthy eating and the adoption of responsive child feeding practices. These included personal beliefs and experiences with food, the bi-directional nature of child feeding, conflicting parental requests and/or unsupportive centre-based policies and procedures. Conclusion: Training about responsive child feeding practices within the childcare sector should include all childcare staff; aim to enhance relational efficacy and communication skills with parents; and empower childcare staff to lead organisational change. To support this, childcare centres need to provide coherent centre-based healthy eating policies inclusive of healthy food provision and desirable feeding practices.


BMJ Open ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (11) ◽  
pp. e018219 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ana Cristina Lindsay ◽  
Mary L Greaney ◽  
Sherrie F Wallington ◽  
Julie A Wright

ObjectiveLatinos are the largest and most rapidly growing minority population group in the USA and are disproportionally affected by obesity and related chronic diseases. Child care providers likely influence the eating and physical activity behaviours of children in their care, and therefore are important targets for interventions designed to prevent childhood obesity. Nonetheless, there is a paucity of research examining the behaviours of family child care home (FCCH) providers and whether they model healthy eating and physical activity behaviours. Therefore, this study explored Latino FCCH providers’ beliefs and practices related to healthy eating, physical activity and sedentary behaviours, and how they view their ability to serve as role models for these behaviours for young children in their care.MethodsThis is a qualitative study consisting of six focus groups conducted in Spanish with a sample of 44 state-licensed Latino FCCH providers in the state of Massachusetts. Translated transcripts were analysed using thematic analyses to identify meaningful patterns.ResultsAnalyses revealed that Latino FCCH providers have positive beliefs and attitudes about the importance of healthy eating and physical activity for children in their care, but personally struggle with these same behaviours and with maintaining a healthy weight status. The ability of Latino FCCH providers to model healthy eating and physical activity may be limited by their low self-efficacy in their ability to be physically active, eat a healthy diet and maintain a healthy weight.ConclusionsInterventions designed to improve healthy eating and physical activity behaviours of children enrolled in FCCHs should address providers’ own health behaviours as well as their modelling of these health behaviours. Future research can build on the findings of this qualitative study by quantifying Latino FCCH providers’ eating and physical activity behaviours, and determining how these behaviours influence behaviours and health outcomes of children in their care.


2015 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 16-31 ◽  
Author(s):  
Flora Keshishian ◽  
Rebecca Wiseheart

There is a growing demand for bilingual services in speech-language pathology and audiology. To meet this growing demand, and given their critical role in the recruitment of more bilingual professionals, higher education institutions need to know more about bilingual students' impression of Communication Sciences and Disorders (CSD) as a major. The purpose of this qualitative study was to investigate bilingual and monolingual undergraduate students' perceptions of the CSD major. One hundred and twenty-two students from a large university located in a highly multicultural metropolitan area responded to four open-ended questions aimed at discovering students' major areas of interest (and disinterest) as well as their motivations for pursuing a degree in CSD. Consistent with similar reports conducted outside the United States, students from this culturally diverse environment indicated choosing the major for altruistic reasons. A large percentage of participants were motivated by a desire to work with children, but not in a school setting. Although 42% of the participants were bilingual, few indicated an interest in taking an additional course in bilingual studies. Implications of these findings as well as practical suggestions for the recruitment of bilingual students are discussed.


2016 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 408-416 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sasha M. Rojas ◽  
Joseph G. Grzywacz ◽  
Martha I. Zapata Roblyer ◽  
Rebecca Crain ◽  
Richard C. Cervantes

2014 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-41 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elisabeth Scheibelhofer

This paper focuses on gendered mobilities of highly skilled researchers working abroad. It is based on an empirical qualitative study that explored the mobility aspirations of Austrian scientists who were working in the United States at the time they were interviewed. Supported by a case study, the paper demonstrates how a qualitative research strategy including graphic drawings sketched by the interviewed persons can help us gain a better understanding of the gendered importance of social relations for the future mobility aspirations of scientists working abroad.


Sexes ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 331-344
Author(s):  
Jessamyn Bowling ◽  
Erika Montanaro ◽  
Sarai Guerrero-Ordonez ◽  
Stuti Joshi ◽  
Diana Gioia

In the United States, the COVID-19 pandemic has decreased partnered sexual behavior and increased the use of enhancement (e.g., toys). This has been partly attributed to reduced social interactions and stress. However, individuals’ perceptions of changes are missing in research. This study aims to examine how adults perceive changes in their sexuality during the pandemic. We conducted a nationwide survey of US adults from April–June 2020 (N = 326). This qualitative study examines the open-ended responses using thematic analyses. The following themes emerged from the data: (1) changes in the purpose of sex; (2) changes in sexual identity; (3) decreases in sex drive and desire; (4) increases in sex drive and desire; (5) fluctuations in sex drive and desire; (6) increased sexual experimentation and reflection. The stress, changes in home responsibilities and living situations, and time spent with partners (more or less) has affected individuals by increasing or decreasing their sex drive and desire. Participants responded to changes with self-reflection and awareness, and incorporating new practices (e.g., technology, kink). The purpose of sex has shifted in order to gain intimacy or connect, or to pass time. These changes were perceived as both positive and negative, and more research is needed to determine the durability of these changes.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document