Lessons learned from talking with adults about nutrition: A qualitative study in the PREPARED project

Abstract

Improving diet and dietary behaviour of men and women before pregnancy has the potential to benefit both their current and long‐term health and the health of their children. Little is known, however, about adults' perception of diet's role in prepregnancy health. This study aimed to explore the state of knowledge and awareness of preconception nutritional health in adults within the fertile age range and what they perceived could motivate healthy eating using the self‐determination theory as a theoretical framework. We analysed 33 short exploratory interviews with men (n = 18) and women (n = 15) aged 18–45 years. Participants were grab sampled from three different public locations in the southern part of Norway. Interviews were audio‐recorded, transcribed verbatim in 2020 and analysed using a thematic analysis with a semantic approach in 2022. The findings suggest that adults within the fertile age range are not intrinsically motivated to eat healthily, but when they do, it is because eating healthily often aligns with other goals consistent with their values, that is, getting fit or looking good. They possess some basic knowledge of healthy behaviours during pregnancy but are generally unaware of the importance of preconception health and nutrition. There is a need to increase awareness of the impact of preconception health on the health of this and future generations. Improved nutritional education on the significance of diet before conception might facilitate optimal conditions for conceiving and for pregnancy in the adult population within fertile age range.

Nutrition in a lifecourse perspective: From molecular aspects to public health approaches

“…Since its establishment in 2018, the Priority Research Centre for Lifecourse Nutrition at the University of Agder has been committed to understand and improve diet and health relations from a lifecourse perspective. Devoting this Special Issue to current advancements in the subdiscipline of lifecourse nutrition in our Centre (Bjørkkjaer et al, 2023;Helle et al, 2023;Ostojic et al, 2023;Valen et al, 2023) but also across the global research arena (Flor-Alemany et al, 2023;Mai et al, 2023;Shinsugi & Takimoto, 2023;Thorisdottir et al, 2023) could potentially pave the path towards enhancing health outcomes for both present and future generations. This Special Issue covers a variety of topics related to nutrition from a lifecourse perspective, addressing diet in sensitive periods (preconception, pregnancy and infancy/toddlerhood), and spanning from molecular nutrition to food environments and settings and gatekeepers of diet in these sensitive periods.…”

“…An interesting paper from our group, published in this special issue, delves into the perspectives of both men and women on preconception, taking a step towards including fathers into such research (Valen et al, 2023).…”

“…It's important to pay attention to this role, as it is evolving historically and holds equal importance to the maternal role. An interesting paper from our group, published in this special issue, delves into the perspectives of both men and women on preconception, taking a step towards including fathers into such research (Valen et al, 2023 ).…”

“…Since its establishment in 2018, the Priority Research Centre for Lifecourse Nutrition at the University of Agder has been committed to understand and improve diet and health relations from a lifecourse perspective. Devoting this Special Issue to current advancements in the subdiscipline of lifecourse nutrition in our Centre (Bjørkkjaer et al, 2023 ; Helle et al, 2023 ; Ostojic et al, 2023 ; Valen et al, 2023 ) but also across the global research arena (Flor‐Alemany et al, 2023 ; Mai et al, 2023 ; Shinsugi & Takimoto, 2023 ; Thorisdottir et al, 2023 ) could potentially pave the path towards enhancing health outcomes for both present and future generations.…”

“…Ostojic et al ( 2023 ) summarize the current evidence of the molecular perspective during preconception and next‐generation health, outlining the main metabolic networks involved in nutritional biology of this sensitive period. Valen et al ( 2023 ) address the preconception phase on a more behavioural notion, by exploring young adults' awareness of preconception nutritional health. Using a grab sample method, short interviews with 33 men and women aged 18−45 years form the basis of their results.…”