Latino-American Mothers’ Perspectives on Feeding Their Young Children: A Qualitative Study

Association between cardiovascular risk and maternal perception of BMI in Peruvian schoolchildren

Introduction

In the modern era, the maternal perception of children's nutritional status has emerged as a critical area of study, given its potential influence on nutritional interventions and long-term child health. The relationship between this perception and children's Body Mass Index (BMI) by age is particularly intriguing, as it may reveal discrepancies between perception and reality.

Objective

The aim of this study was to evaluate Peruvian mothers' perception of their children's Body Mass Index (BMI) in relation to age and to determine how this perception associates with the children's cardiovascular risk. The study also analyzed sociodemographic factors that might influence this perception.

Methods

The study included 130 mothers of schoolchildren aged 5 to 11 from a school in Lima. Mothers' perceptions of their children's weight were assessed using pictograms, and sociodemographic characteristics were collected through a questionnaire. Weight and height measurements were taken to calculate BMI, and waist circumference was measured to classify cardiovascular risk.

Results

A total of 57.4% of the schoolchildren presented with excess malnutrition, and 51.5% of the mothers incorrectly classified the actual BMI/Age of their children (kappa 0.11; p ≤ 0.05). Additionally, it was found that the schoolchild's age is associated with the mother's failure to accurately perceive her child's weight (OR 1.59). Lastly, there was a significant association between maternal perception and cardiovascular risk (p ≤ 0.05).

Conclusion

There is a significant discrepancy between maternal perception and the actual nutritional status of children, which can increase cardiovascular risk. It is necessary to implement intervention and education strategies targeted at parents to enhance the recognition and management of childhood overweight and obesity.

Perceived Health and Diet Quality Among Hispanics in South Florida

There is limited information if perceived health is associated with diet quality in Hispanics. A cross-sectional study was conducted to evaluate is health perception is associated with diet quality among 109 adults in South Florida. Individuals conducting a primary grocery shopping event were asked to complete a survey about their perceived health and to provide a picture of their grocery receipt to estimate diet quality using the Grocery Purchase Quality Index 2016 (GPQI-2016). Data was analyzed using analysis of covariance, adjusting for age, gender, ethnicity, and household size. Mean age was 45.1 ± 13.5 years, 74% were female, 79% were Hispanics, and 36.7% perceived themselves as having 'Good' health. The total average GPQI-2016 score was 40.9 ± 1.0. Perceived health was not significantly associated with total average GPQI-2016 score (p > 0.05). There was no association between perceived health and total diet quality in this sample of Hispanic adults.

Self-management of chronic disease in Latina Kinship caregivers: an integrative review

In the United States, Latinos experience a higher prevalence of chronic diseases with concomitant complications when compared to Non-Latino Whites. Older Latina women often manage a chronic illness while also providing kinship care. This article presents an integrative review of Latina kinship caregivers' self-management of chronic disease. An extensive review of the literature was conducted in seven databases. Four resulting studies included qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods research and suggested health outcomes for Latina kinship caregivers were often worse when compared to other groups. A major gap in the literature identified an absence of disease-specific self-management behaviors for this population.

Cultural influences on infant and toddler feeding among low-income Latinx mothers

Latinx infants and toddlers experience higher obesity rates than their black or white counterparts, increasing chronic disease risk later in life. Infant and toddler feeding (ITF) interventions are shown to improve dietary behaviours, but few studies target Latinx populations. Culturally tailoring such interventions is imperative, but cultural influences on Latinx ITF practices remain unclear. The purpose of this study was to characterize how culture influences ITF practices among Latinx mothers of low income. A brief survey and semistructured interview informed by the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) were conducted on Zoom with New York City-based Latinx mothers of children 4 to 24 months old. A directed content analysis approach was used to identify themes using TPB theoretical codes and inductive codes. Transcripts were coded independently by two researchers using NVivo 12. Survey data were analyzed using descriptive statistics in Excel. Participants (n = 19) were of Dominican, Mexican and Central and South American origin, had low acculturation scores and mean child age was 16.7 months (range: 5-24 months old). The central theme identified was that participants balanced cultural information with evidence-based health information to determine which ITF practices were most beneficial to infant/toddler health. This resulted in the adoption of evidence-based ITF recommendations, adoption of cultural practices that aligned with evidence-based recommendations and dismissal or postponement of cultural ITF practices that contradicted evidence-based recommendations. The present results can be applied to culturally relevant ITF education as follows: emphasizing the benefits of desirable ITF practices on children's health and promoting healthy cultural ITF practices.

Maternal feeding stress during mealtimes as a mediator between child food fussiness and maladaptive feeding behaviors among mothers of preschoolers

Parenting stress has been linked to maladaptive feeding behaviors and adverse child outcomes. Maternal stress that is specific to child feeding during mealtimes has not been previously explored. We sought to examine our hypothesis that maternal feeding stress during mealtimes (MFS-mealtimes) mediates the association of child food fussiness and concern about child's diet with maladaptive feeding behaviors. Mothers (n = 100) were recruited through different preschoolers around the city of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Participants completed an online questionnaire, which included a newly developed MFS-mealtimes index (Cronbach's α = 0.89), the Child Feeding Questionnaire- Arabic (CFQ-A), and the child food fussiness scale. We conducted path analysis to test our hypothesis, and we used bivariate analyses to inform our path model. Mean child age was 4.76 years (SD = 0.62), and 62% of children were female. Mean maternal age was 33.9 years (SD = 5.83). Results from path analysis showed that concern about child's diet and child food fussiness were each associated with higher MFS-mealtimes (B = 0.11, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.01, 0.20, p < 0.05, and B = 0.29, 95% CI = 0.05, 0.53, p < 0.01, respectively). MFS-mealtimes was in turn associated with higher pressure to eat (B = 0.45, 95% CI = 0.18, 0.71, p < 0.05). Goodness of fit indices showed good model fit (p > X² = 0.83, SRMR = 0.005, and CFI = 1.00). Our findings suggest a novel approach for promoting a favorable mealtime environment. Parenting stress reduction interventions have been shown to be successful in reducing stress levels and may be utilized for minimizing feeding stress during mealtimes. Mothers of picky eaters may be specifically targeted for intervention programs. Long term consequences of excessive MFS-mealtimes, as well as variations between cultures need further evaluation.