IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v18y2021i15p8155-d606648.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

In Their Own Words: Parents and Key Informants’ Views on Nutrition Education and Family Health Behaviors

Author

Listed:
  • Katherine E. McManus

    (Department of Psychology, American University, Washington, DC 20016, USA)

  • Adrian Bertrand

    (Department of Health Studies, American University, Washington, DC 20016, USA)

  • Anastasia M. Snelling

    (Department of Health Studies, American University, Washington, DC 20016, USA)

  • Elizabeth W. Cotter

    (Department of Health Studies, American University, Washington, DC 20016, USA)

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.

Suggested Citation

  • Katherine E. McManus & Adrian Bertrand & Anastasia M. Snelling & Elizabeth W. Cotter, 2021. "In Their Own Words: Parents and Key Informants’ Views on Nutrition Education and Family Health Behaviors," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(15), pages 1-15, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:15:p:8155-:d:606648
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/15/8155/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/15/8155/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Crossman, Ashley & Anne Sullivan, Deborah & Benin, Mary, 2006. "The family environment and American adolescents' risk of obesity as young adults," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 63(9), pages 2255-2267, November.
    2. Goodman, E. & Slap, G.B. & Huang, B., 2003. "The Public Health Impact of Socioeconomic Status on Adolescent Depression and Obesity," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 93(11), pages 1844-1850.
    3. Subica, A.M. & Grills, C.T. & Douglas, J.A. & Villanueva, S., 2016. "Communities of color creating healthy environments to combat childhood obesity," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 106(1), pages 79-86.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Lee, Chioun & Ryff, Carol D., 2016. "Early parenthood as a link between childhood disadvantage and adult heart problems: A gender-based approach," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 171(C), pages 58-66.
    2. Dana H. Z. Williamson & Sheryl Good & Daphne Wilson & Na’Taki Osborne Jelks & Dayna A. Johnson & Kelli A. Komro & Michelle C. Kegler, 2023. "Using the Collaborative Problem-Solving Model: Findings from an Evaluation of U.S. EPA’s Environmental Justice Academy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(20), pages 1-24, October.
    3. Natalia Arias & María Dolores Calvo & José Alberto Benítez-Andrades & María José Álvarez & Beatriz Alonso-Cortés & Carmen Benavides, 2018. "Socioeconomic Status in Adolescents: A Study of Its Relationship with Overweight and Obesity and Influence on Social Network Configuration," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(9), pages 1-17, September.
    4. Evans, Clare R. & Erickson, Natasha, 2019. "Intersectionality and depression in adolescence and early adulthood: A MAIHDA analysis of the national longitudinal study of adolescent to adult health, 1995–2008," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 220(C), pages 1-11.
    5. Cláudia Bulhões & Elisabete Ramos & Jutta Lindert & Sónia Dias & Henrique Barros, 2013. "Depressive Symptoms and Its Associated Factors in 13-Year-Old Urban Adolescents," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 10(10), pages 1-13, October.
    6. Giada Pietrabissa & Clarissa Volpi & Michela Bottacchi & Vanessa Bertuzzi & Anna Guerrini Usubini & Henriette Löffler-Stastka & Tamara Prevendar & Giada Rapelli & Roberto Cattivelli & Gianluca Casteln, 2021. "The Impact of Social Isolation during the COVID-19 Pandemic on Physical and Mental Health: The Lived Experience of Adolescents with Obesity and Their Caregivers," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(6), pages 1-18, March.
    7. Hui Zhai & Lu Chen & Yanjie Yang & Hailian Sun & Hui Pan & Jincai He & Xiongzhao Zhu & Hong Sui & Wenbo Wang & Xiaohui Qiu & Zhengxue Qiao & Xiuxian Yang & Jiarun Yang & Yunmiao Yu & Bo Ban & Changzhi, 2016. "Family and College Environmental Exposures Mediate the Relationship between Parental Education and Depression among College Students," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 11(3), pages 1-9, March.
    8. D. Mark Anderson & Resul Cesur & Erdal Tekin, 2015. "Youth Depression And Future Criminal Behavior," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 53(1), pages 294-317, January.
    9. Oleksandr Zhylyevskyy & Helen H. Jensen & Steven B. Garasky & Carolyn E. Cutrona & Frederick X. Gibbons, 2013. "Effects of Family, Friends, and Relative Prices on Fruit and Vegetable Consumption by African Americans," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 80(1), pages 226-251, July.
    10. Ruhr, Lindsay R. & Jordan Fowler, Lindsey, 2022. "Empowerment-focused positive youth development programming for underprivileged youth in the Southern U.S.: A qualitative evaluation," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 143(C).
    11. Lotte Prevo & Stef Kremers & Maria Jansen, 2020. "The Power of Trading: Exploring the Value of a Trading Shop as a Health-Promoting Community Engagement Approach," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(13), pages 1-15, June.
    12. Jinhee Lee & Tae Hui Kim & Seongho Min & Min-Hyuk Kim & Ki Chang Park & Jin Sil Moon & Joung-Sook Ahn, 2018. "Depressive symptoms and suicidal behaviours in adolescent non-daily smokers compared to daily smokers and never-smokers in Korea: National cross-sectional study," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(11), pages 1-15, November.
    13. Lucía Antolín-Suárez & Francisco J. Nieto-Casado & Ana Rodríguez-Meirinhos & Alfredo Oliva, 2020. "Demographic, Social, and Economic Factors of Internalizing Problems in Referred and Non-Referred Adolescents," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(14), pages 1-15, July.
    14. Bodea, Tudor D. & Garrow, Laurie A. & Meyer, Michael D. & Ross, Catherine L., 2009. "Socio-demographic and built environment influences on the odds of being overweight or obese: The Atlanta experience," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 43(4), pages 430-444, May.
    15. Price, Joseph & Swigert, Jeffrey, 2012. "Within-family variation in obesity," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 10(4), pages 333-339.
    16. Tudor Bodea & Laurie Garrow & Michael Meyer & Catherine Ross, 2008. "Explaining obesity with urban form: a cautionary tale," Transportation, Springer, vol. 35(2), pages 179-199, March.
    17. Sun, Yu & You, Wen, 2016. "Relative-deprivation effects on child health in China," 2016 Annual Meeting, July 31-August 2, Boston, Massachusetts 235926, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    18. Mikael G Ahlborg & Petra Svedberg & Maria Nyholm & Antony Morgan & Jens M Nygren, 2019. "Into the realm of social capital for adolescents: A latent profile analysis," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(2), pages 1-19, February.
    19. Dana H. Z. Williamson & Emma X. Yu & Candis M. Hunter & John A. Kaufman & Kelli Komro & Na’Taki Osborne Jelks & Dayna A. Johnson & Matthew O. Gribble & Michelle C. Kegler, 2020. "A Scoping Review of Capacity-Building Efforts to Address Environmental Justice Concerns," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(11), pages 1-23, May.
    20. Caroline Barakat & Theodore Konstantinidis, 2023. "A Review of the Relationship between Socioeconomic Status Change and Health," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(13), pages 1-13, June.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:15:p:8155-:d:606648. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.