School of Social Work, Boston College, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America.
Illinois Transdisciplinary Obesity Prevention Program (I-TOPP), Urbana, Illinois, United States of America.
PLoS One. 2019 Mar 18;14(3):e0213442. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0213442. eCollection 2019.
Worldwide, overweight and obesity rates have more than tripled over the past three decades. Overweight and obesity rates are particularly high among Latinos. In order to determine some of the potential reasons, it is imperative to investigate how first-generation Latina mothers living in non-metropolitan and small metro areas decide how and what to feed their children. Using the Socio-Ecological Model, this study aimed to understand how Latina immigrant mothers make feeding decisions for their children.
A total of 29 semi-structured interviews were conducted with a purposive sample of immigrant mothers from Latin American countries whose preschoolers were enrolled in a Women, Infant, and Children supplemental nutrition program located in non-metropolitan and small metro areas. All interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim in Spanish, and analyzed by a bilingual team.
Multi-stage qualitative analysis was employed to analyze the data. Nineteen participants originated from Mexico, four from Central America, and six from South America. Five themes emerged that helped illuminate mother's decision-making around feeding choices: 1) culture as all-encompassing, 2) location and access to fresh and traditional foods, 3) disjunction between health provider advice and cultural knowledge 4) responsiveness to family needs and wants as determinants of food choices, 5) intrapersonal conflict stemming from childhood poverty and food insufficiency.
Findings suggest that Latina immigrant mothers engage in a difficult and even conflicting process when deciding how to feed their children. Future interventions should focus on implementing hands-on activities that can help consolidate, promote, and encourage healthy feeding choices.
在过去的三十年中，全球超重和肥胖率增长了两倍多。拉丁裔人群中的超重和肥胖率尤其高。为了确定一些潜在的原因，必须研究生活在非大都市和小都会区的第一代拉丁裔母亲如何以及为其子女选择喂养方式。本研究运用社会生态学模式，旨在了解拉丁裔移民母亲如何为其子女做出喂养决策。
采用目的抽样法，选取了 29 名来自拉丁美洲国家的移民母亲进行半结构式访谈，这些母亲的学龄前儿童参加了位于非大都市和小都会区的妇女、婴儿和儿童补充营养计划。所有访谈均以西班牙语进行录音和逐字记录，并由双语团队进行分析。
采用多阶段定性分析方法对数据进行分析。19 名参与者来自墨西哥，4 名来自中美洲，6 名来自南美洲。有 5 个主题出现，有助于阐明母亲在喂养选择方面的决策：1）文化的全面性，2）地点和获得新鲜及传统食物的机会，3）卫生保健提供者建议与文化知识之间的脱节，4）响应家庭需求和愿望作为食物选择的决定因素，5）源自童年贫困和食物不足的内在冲突。
研究结果表明，拉丁裔移民母亲在决定如何喂养子女时，会经历一个艰难甚至矛盾的过程。未来的干预措施应侧重于实施实践活动，以帮助巩固、促进和鼓励健康的喂养选择。
