Hispanic Mothers’ Views of the Fathers’ Role in Promoting Healthy Behaviors at Home: Focus Group Findings

Abstract

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.

A qualitative study conducted in the USA exploring Latino fathers’ beliefs, attitudes and practices related to their young children’s eating, physical activity and sedentary behaviours

“…The current literature examining Latinos' parenting and their children's health-related behaviours focuses primarily on Latina mothers' beliefs, attitudes and practices related to their young children's eating, PA and SB (8,11,13,(14)(15)(16)(17)(18)(19)(20)(48)(49)(50)(51)(52) . To date, there is a paucity of information on these topics among Latino fathers.…”

“…In summary, although the role of fathers in the promotion of their children's eating, PA and SB is a growing area of research, there is still limited information available on the role of minority fathers including Latinos (17,(36)(37)(38)(39)(40) . The current study provides insights into the role of Latino fathers in promoting their children's eating, PA and SB within the family environment and contributes information that allows for a more complete picture of how Latino parents view eating and PA environments for their children.…”

“…The current study provides insights into the role of Latino fathers in promoting their children's eating, PA and SB within the family environment and contributes information that allows for a more complete picture of how Latino parents view eating and PA environments for their children. Given the central role of the family in the Latino culture, effective interventions targeting the promotion of healthy eating, PA and SBand ultimately the prevention of child obesity and related chronic diseasesshould take account of the role of fathers (13,17,(36)(37)(38)(39) .…”

Maternal Decisions on Portion Size and Portion Control Strategies for Snacks in Preschool Children

“…In particular, grandparents are an important source of support in the UK, with over one-quarter of children < 5 years of age receiving care from grandparents [46]. Evidence suggests that fathers and grandparents offer larger portion sizes of less healthy foods to their children than mothers [12,47,48]; therefore, further investigation into the factors that influence fathers' and grandparents' portion size decisions may be beneficial for the development of tailored interventions.…”

Family systems associations with obesogenic behaviors among rural Latino and White families

“…This may mean incorporating the entire family unit in a program or tailoring a program to incorporate specific family members. A recent study of Latina mothers found differences between mothers' and fathers' food parenting preferences and practices, therefore suggesting implications for nutrition education with Latino families (Lora, Cheney, & Branscum, 2017). Family-based programming may also include working with individuals to understand the influences of family systems through perceived roles, past family food experiences, and identifying influences of interactions between multiple subsystem members.…”