ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To describe the feeding practices and styles used by a diverse sample of low-income parents of preschool-age children. DESIGN: Thirty- to 60-minute meetings involving a semistructured interview and 2 questionnaires administered by the interviewer. SETTING: Low-income communities in Philadelphia, PA. PARTICIPANTS: Thirty-two parents of 2- to 6-year-old children. PHENOMENA OF INTEREST: The feeding practices and styles of low-income parents of preschoolers. ANALYSIS: Qualitative interviews analyzed iteratively following a thematic approach; quantitative data analyzed using nonparametric and chi-square tests. RESULTS: Qualitative analyses revealed parents used a myriad of feeding practices to accomplish child-feeding goals. Racial/ethnic differences were seen; East Asian parents used more child-focused decision-making processes, whereas black parents used more parent-focused decision-making processes. Quantitative analyses substantiated racial/ethnic differences; black parents placed significantly higher demands on children for the amounts (H = 5.89, 2 df, P = .05; Kruskal-Wallis) and types (H = 8.39, 2 df, P = .01; Kruskal-Wallis) of food eaten compared to parents of other races/ethnicities. In contrast, significantly higher proportions of East Asian parents were classified as having an indulgent feeding style compared to black parents and parents of other races/ethnicities (chi(2)[4, n = 32] = 9.29, P < .05). CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: Findings provide support for tailoring nutrition education programs to meet the diverse needs of this target audience.
Subject(s)
Feeding Methods , Parenting/psychology , Parents/psychology , Poverty , Adult , Child , Child, Preschool , Cross-Sectional Studies , Female , Health Promotion/methods , Humans , Male , Parent-Child Relations/ethnology , Parenting/ethnology , Philadelphia , Urban PopulationABSTRACT
The purpose of this study was to identify the types of nutrition newsletter content that reading clientele perceive as relevant to them in making healthy food choices consistent with sound dietary advice, and to identify ways newsletter design and wording affect the usefulness of the content. The authors conducted five focus groups with readers of nutrition education newsletters in three different regions of Pennsylvania between January and April 2003. All participants were obtaining food from their community food pantry, where newsletters are distributed by the Pennsylvania Nutrition Education Program. Major nutrition and health concerns of participants included heart disease, diabetes, dietary fat, and sodium intake. Recipes are the most highly valued portion of the newsletters. To summarize, newsletter readers indicate that effectiveness in facilitating food and nutrition behavior change is a function of the relevance, design, and practicality of the content.