Cook Erica Jane, Powell Faye Caroline, Ali Nasreen, Penn-Jones Catrin, Ochieng Bertha, Randhawa Gurch
School of Psychology, University of Bedfordshire, Luton, UK.
Institute for Health Research, University of Bedfordshire, Luton, UK.
Matern Child Nutr. 2021 Apr;17(2):e13108. doi: 10.1111/mcn.13108. Epub 2020 Nov 9.
Complementary feeding practices and adherence to health recommendations are influenced by a range of different and often interrelating factors such as socio-economic and cultural factors. However, the factors underlying these associations are often complex with less awareness of how complementary feeding approaches vary across the UK's diverse population. This paper describes a qualitative investigation undertaken in a deprived and culturally diverse community in the UK which aimed to explore parents' knowledge, beliefs and practices of complementary feeding. One hundred and ten mothers and fathers, self-identified as being White British, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Black African/Caribbean or Polish took part in twenty-four focus group discussions, organised by age group, sex and ethnicity. The findings revealed that most parents initiated complementary feeding before the World Health Organisation (WHO) recommendation of 6 months. Early initiation was strongly influenced by breast feeding practices alongside the extent to which parents believed that their usual milk; that is, breastmilk or formula was fulfilling their infants' nutritional needs. The composition of diet and parents' approach to complementary feeding was closely aligned to traditional cultural practices; however, some contradictions were noted. The findings also acknowledge the pertinent role of the father in influencing the dietary practices of the wider household. Learning about both the common and unique cultural feeding attitudes and practices held by parents may help us to tailor healthy complementary feeding advice in the context of increasing diversity in the United Kingdom.
辅食喂养方式以及对健康建议的遵循受到一系列不同且往往相互关联的因素影响，如社会经济和文化因素。然而，这些关联背后的因素通常很复杂，人们对英国不同人群的辅食喂养方式差异了解较少。本文描述了在英国一个贫困且文化多元的社区进行的一项定性调查，旨在探究父母在辅食喂养方面的知识、观念和做法。110位自称是英国白人、巴基斯坦人、孟加拉国人、非洲裔/加勒比裔黑人或波兰人的父母参与了24场焦点小组讨论，这些讨论按年龄组、性别和种族进行组织。研究结果显示，大多数父母在世界卫生组织建议的6个月之前就开始了辅食喂养。过早开始辅食喂养受到母乳喂养方式的强烈影响，同时也受到父母认为他们常用的奶（即母乳或配方奶）满足婴儿营养需求程度的影响。饮食构成和父母的辅食喂养方式与传统文化习俗密切相关；然而，也发现了一些矛盾之处。研究结果还认可了父亲在影响家庭整体饮食行为方面的重要作用。了解父母共有的和独特的文化喂养态度及做法，可能有助于我们在英国日益多样化的背景下，制定出健康的辅食喂养建议。
