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Background Overweight and obesity prevention interventions rarely take into account the unique role of fathers in promoting healthy home environments. Objective To use qualitative methodology to examine the views of Hispanic mothers of 2-to-5-year-old children regarding fathers’ roles in promoting healthy behaviors at home. Design Nine focus groups were conducted in Spanish with Hispanic mothers of preschool-aged children (n=55) from October to December, 2015. Participants/settings Hispanic mothers were recruited from churches, community agencies, and preschools located in five zip codes in the southwest part of Oklahoma City, OK. Analysis Questions examined the views of Hispanic mothers regarding fathers’ roles in promoting healthy behaviors at home. Focus groups were audio-recorded, transcribed in Spanish, translated into English, and coded and analyzed for themes by two coders using NVivo v.10 software. Results Four themes were identified: fathers’ disagreement with mothers about food preferences and preparation, fathers’ support for child’s healthy eating, fathers’ support for child’s physical activity, and fathers’ lack of support for a healthy home food environment. Fathers’ traditional expectations about the type of foods and portion sizes adults should eat conflicted with mothers’ meal preparations. Mothers reported that, while they favored eating low-calorie meals, the meals fathers preferred eating were high-calorie meals (i.e., quesadillas). In general, fathers supported healthy eating and physical activity behaviors for their children. Supportive behaviors for children included preparing healthy meals, using healthier cooking methods, grocery shopping with their children for healthy foods, and asking the child to participate in household chores and/or play sports. Fathers’ unsupportive behaviors included bringing high-calorie foods, such as pizza, and sugary drinks into the home, using sweets and savory foods for emotion regulation, and displaying an indulgent parental feeding style. Conclusions Mothers' views of fathers' perceived roles in child eating and physical activity, and maintaining a healthy eating environment, have important implications for the success of promoting healthy behaviors in the homes of Hispanic families.

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The time children spend in childcare overlaps with daily meals and opportunities to be active. Thus these environments have the opportunity to promote-or hinder-healthy weight gain among children who attend them. The purpose of this narrative review was to compile findings from studies examining childcare type and weight outcomes among preschool-age children. A literature search was conducted using PubMed, PsychInfo and ERIC. Inclusion criteria were infant- to 5-year-old children exposed to any type of childcare with a cross-sectional or longitudinal weight outcome. Among 385 studies screened, 18 were included. For comparison across studies, type of childcare was categorized as: childcare center, Head Start, nanny/babysitter, non-relative care/family childcare home and relative care. Four studies found no association with childcare type and obesity, and 10 studies reported mixed results by type of care or subpopulation analyses. Two studies found an overall positive association, and two reported an inverse association. There were differences in direction of associations and findings by type of care arrangement. For Head Start, three of eight studies demonstrated a negative relationship with obesity; none demonstrated a positive association. No other childcare type demonstrated this inverse association. Informal types of care (relative and non-relative care in a home) were positively associated with child obesity in 3 of 10 studies. This association was less commonly reported among formal childcare centers (2 of 15 studies). The majority of studies, however, reported mixed findings or no association by childcare type. Results suggested no consistent evidence for a relationship between childcare and obesity risk, except Head Start. This review exposed the need for a consistent definition of childcare type and the exploration of unmeasured confounders, such as the nutrition and physical activity environment of childcare settings, to understand how they contribute to or protect against the development of overweight/obesity among children.