Perceptions of Childhood Obesity on the Texas-Mexico Border

Bayles, Bryan

doi:10.1111/j.1525-1446.2010.00861.x

Cited by 24 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…[20][21][22] The finding that parents of overweight and obese children misclassify their children as normal or even underweight has been found before. 17,23,24 In studies of Hispanic populations, a general acceptance or even preference for heavier weight has been found, [25][26][27] though 60% of the parents of obese children in our study wanted their child to be smaller. Factors associated with a lower ability of accurately classifying a child's weight are parental income, education, Hispanic ethnicity, and the age of the child being less than 4 years.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 50%

A Positive Deviance Approach to Early Childhood Obesity: Cross-Sectional Characterization of Positive Outliers

et al. 2015

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Objective: Positive deviance methodology has been applied in the developing world to address childhood malnutrition and has potential for application to childhood obesity in the United States. We hypothesized that among children at high-risk for obesity, evaluating normal weight children will enable identification of positive outlier behaviors and practices.Methods: In a community at high-risk for obesity, a cross-sectional mixed-methods analysis was done of normal weight, overweight, and obese children, classified by BMI percentile. Parents were interviewed using a semistructured format in regard to their children's general health, feeding and activity practices, and perceptions of weight.Results: Interviews were conducted in 40 homes in the lower Rio Grande Valley in Texas with a largely Hispanic (87.5%) population. Demographics, including income, education, and food assistance use, did not vary between groups. Nearly all (93.8%) parents of normal weight children perceived their child to be lower than the median weight. Group differences were observed for reported juice and yogurt consumption. Differences in both emotional feeding behaviors and parents' internalization of reasons for healthy habits were identified as different between groups.Conclusions: We found subtle variations in reported feeding and activity practices by weight status among healthy children in a population at high risk for obesity. The behaviors and attitudes described were consistent with previous literature; however, the local strategies associated with a healthy weight are novel, potentially providing a basis for a specific intervention in this population.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 50%

A Positive Deviance Approach to Early Childhood Obesity: Cross-Sectional Characterization of Positive Outliers

et al. 2015

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“…Immigrant parents may be unconcerned with childhood obesity because it is less common and not viewed as problematic in their native country. Mexican-American parents are unlikely to link child obesity to poor health (Bayles, 2010; Crawford et al, 2004; Gomel and Zamora, 2007; Sosa, 2011). Some research reports that Mexican mothers see childhood fatness as a sign of good health (Guendelman et al, 2010; Rosas et al, 2010), and thinness as a sign of illness (Sosa, 2011).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Canaries in a coalmine: Immigration and overweight among Mexican-origin children in the US and Mexico

Hook

Baker

Altman

et al. 2012

Social Science & Medicine

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The prevalence of overweight is higher for Hispanic children of immigrants than children of natives. This does not fit the pattern of the epidemiological paradox; the widely supported finding that immigrants tend to be healthier than their U.S.-born peers, and it suggests that exposure to the U.S. increases immigrant children’s risk of overweight. This study’s primary contribution is to better assess how exposure to the U.S. environment affects childhood overweight among a homogamous ethnic group, Mexican-Americans. We do so by using an innovative binational study design to compare the weight of Mexican-American children of immigrants, Mexican-American children of natives, and Mexican children in Mexico with different propensities of having immigrant parents. Cross-sectional data are derived from a pooled sample of 9,982 6–19 year old children living in either Mexico or the United States in the early 2000s. Mexican-resident children with a very high propensity to have immigrant parents have significantly lower percentile BMIs and lower odds of overweight than Mexican children with lower propensities of emigration and U.S.-resident Mexican-American children. This suggests that selection into immigration streams does not account for the high prevalence of overweight among children of Mexican immigrants. Rather, U.S. exposure significantly raises children of Mexican immigrants’ risk of being overweight. Moreover, second generation children have the highest percentile BMIs and greatest odds of overweight of all comparison groups, including children of natives. This suggests that they experience risks above and beyond the effects of exposure to American society.

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“…Existing quantitative studies have provided limited insight into understanding dietary patterns and general food choice for Mexican-origin women/mothers living in a border region like colonias [2,8-19]. Previous work for understanding food-related behaviors among Mexican-origin women interpreted behavior based on a prescribed framework and discounted the participants' perspectives [2,6].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

It's all about the children: a participant-driven photo-elicitation study of Mexican-origin mothers' food choices

Johnson

Sharkey²,

Dean³

2011

BMC Women's Health

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BackgroundThere is a desperate need to address diet-related chronic diseases in Mexican-origin women, particularly for those in border region colonias (Mexican settlements) and other new destination communities in rural and non-rural areas of the U.S. Understanding the food choices of mothers, who lead food and health activities in their families, provides one way to improve health outcomes in Mexican-origin women and their children. This study used a visual method, participant-driven photo-elicitation, and grounded theory in a contextual study of food choices from the perspectives of Mexican-origin mothers.MethodsTeams of trained promotoras (female community health workers from the area) collected all data in Spanish. Ten Mexican-origin mothers living in colonias in Hidalgo County, TX completed a creative photography assignment and an in-depth interview using their photographs as visual prompts and examples. English transcripts were coded inductively by hand, and initial observations emphasized the salience of mothers' food practices in their routine care-giving. This was explored further by coding transcripts in the qualitative data analysis software Atlas.ti.ResultsAn inductive conceptual framework was created to provide context for understanding mothers' daily practices and their food practices in particular. Three themes emerged from the data: 1) a mother's primary orientation was toward her children; 2) leveraging resources to provide the best for her children; and 3) a mother's daily food practices kept her children happy, healthy, and well-fed. Results offer insight into the intricate meanings embedded in Mexican-origin mothers' routine food choices.ConclusionsThis paper provides a new perspective for understanding food choice through the eyes of mothers living in the colonias of South Texas -- one that emphasizes the importance of children in their routine food practices and the resilience of the mothers themselves. Additional research is needed to better understand mothers' perspectives and food practices with larger samples of women and among other socioeconomic groups.

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Perceptions of Childhood Obesity on the Texas-Mexico Border

Abstract: Local perceptions and language may not correspond to CDC/WHO clinical standards. Larger studies are needed to confirm these preliminary findings.

Cited by 24 publications

References 22 publications

A Positive Deviance Approach to Early Childhood Obesity: Cross-Sectional Characterization of Positive Outliers

A Positive Deviance Approach to Early Childhood Obesity: Cross-Sectional Characterization of Positive Outliers

Canaries in a coalmine: Immigration and overweight among Mexican-origin children in the US and Mexico

It's all about the children: a participant-driven photo-elicitation study of Mexican-origin mothers' food choices

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