Modjadji Perpetua
Department of Public Health, School of Health Care Sciences, Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University, 1 Molotlegi Street, Ga-Rankuwa, Pretoria 0208, South Africa.
Healthcare (Basel). 2021 Feb 18;9(2):225. doi: 10.3390/healthcare9020225.
A qualitative study was conducted to explore mothers' insights on the growth of school-age children in a rural Health and Demographic site of Limpopo Province, in South Africa. The participants were selected using purposive sampling. Data were collected from seven focus group discussions, which were audio-taped and transcribed verbatim. NVivo10 was used to analyse interview transcripts, following qualitative thematic analysis. Fifty-four mothers aged between 27 and 52 years were interviewed. Unfavourable sociodemographic status with poor living conditions of mothers were observed, particularly in terms of unemployment, minimal tertiary education, and rural locality. The perceptions of mothers on child growth linked growth of their children to various factors such as poverty and socioeconomic status, genetic/family heredity, and household environment. Mothers further related child growth to purchasing power and decisions regarding types of food, food unavailability, affordability issues, feeding beliefs and practices; and child food preferences, school feeding schemes, and maternal and societal cultural beliefs and practices. Despite their concerns, mothers perceived that their children were growing well, but differently. It is worth noting that the views of mothers on child growth were up to their aptitude level and might have been restricted due to their level of education and rural locality. Hence, there is a need for novel information, education, and communication strategies to effectively reach mothers, especially in rural areas, regarding the importance of identifying children with growth failure and its prevention. Mothers should be able to identify when a child is affected by growth failure and to seek healthcare, in order to prevent children from progressing to severe forms. This study informs on the timing of nutritional interventions for children and context-specific health promotion and health education programs to improve the knowledge of mothers on child growth.
在南非林波波省一个农村健康与人口研究点，开展了一项定性研究，以探究母亲们对学龄儿童成长的见解。参与者采用目的抽样法选取。数据收集自七次焦点小组讨论，讨论内容进行了录音并逐字转录。采用定性主题分析法，运用NVivo10对访谈记录进行分析。共采访了54位年龄在27至52岁之间的母亲。观察到母亲们的社会人口统计学状况不佳，生活条件较差，尤其是在失业、接受高等教育程度低以及居住在农村地区方面。母亲们对儿童成长的看法将孩子的成长与多种因素联系起来，如贫困和社会经济地位、遗传/家族遗传以及家庭环境。母亲们还将儿童成长与购买力、食物种类的决策、食物供应不足、可承受性问题、喂养观念和做法；以及儿童的食物偏好、学校供餐计划、母亲和社会文化观念及做法联系起来。尽管她们有所担忧，但母亲们认为自己的孩子成长良好，但方式不同。值得注意的是，母亲们对儿童成长的看法取决于她们的能力水平，可能因教育程度和农村地区的原因而受到限制。因此，需要新颖的信息、教育和沟通策略，以便有效地向母亲们，特别是农村地区的母亲们传达识别生长发育不良儿童及其预防的重要性。母亲们应该能够识别孩子何时受到生长发育不良的影响并寻求医疗保健，以防止儿童发展为严重形式。本研究为儿童营养干预的时机以及针对特定背景的健康促进和健康教育项目提供了信息，以提高母亲们对儿童成长的认识。
