"I'm the Momma": Using photo-elicitation to understand matrilineal influence on family food choice

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Many complex and subtle aspects relating to mothers and food choice are not well understood. Mothers play a primary role in their children's food choices, but research has not specifically examined how matrilineal family members who do not reside in the same household, such as a mother's mother, aunt, or grandmother, influence the current family's food choices.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Seven participants were recruited from the Household Food Inventory (HFI) Study in the Bryan/College Station, Texas. All participants completed an in-depth interview, photographed food-related activities, and discussed photographs in a follow-up in-depth interview. Interviews were transcribed verbatim from audio recordings. Transcripts were analyzed using several qualitative approaches including grounded theory to identify themes and subthemes.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Participants discussed the following themes relating to the influence of their mother or other female relation (Mom) on their families' food choices: Relationship with Mom, Just like Mom, 'Kinda' like Mom, Different than Mom, and Mom's Influence on Children's Food Choices. Overall, participants used the photographs to illustrate how they were similar or different to their mothers, or other female family member, as well as how their mothers either supported or undermined control over their children's food choices. The "Mom effect" or matrilineal influence of mothers, aunts, and grandmothers on a mother's food choices was omnipresent, even though Mom was no longer living with the participants.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>We found a matrilineal influence to have a residual and persistent influence on a family's food choices. This finding may be helpful for understanding the contextual elements of food choice and explaining why it is sometimes difficult to change mothers' food habits.</p

A participatory parent-focused intervention promoting physical activity in preschools: design of a cluster-randomized trial

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>With rates of childhood obesity increasing, physical activity (PA) promotion especially in young children has assumed greater importance. Given the limited effectiveness of most interventions to date, new approaches are needed. The General Systems theory suggests that involving parents as intervention targets may be effective in fostering healthier life styles in children. We describe the development of a parent-focused participatory intervention and the procedures used to evaluate its effectiveness in increasing daily PA in preschoolers.</p> <p>Methods/Design</p> <p>Thirty-seven South German preschools were identified for this study and agreed to participate. Using a two-armed, controlled cluster-randomized trial design we test a participatory intervention with parents as the primary target group and potential agents of behavioural change. Specifically, the intervention is designed to engage parents in the development, refinement and selection of project ideas to promote PA and in incorporating these ideas into daily routines within the preschool community, consisting of children, teachers and parents. Our study is embedded within an existing state-sponsored programme providing structured gym lessons to preschool children. Thus, child-based PA outcomes from the study arm with the parent-focused intervention and the state-sponsored programme are compared with those from the study arm with the state-sponsored programme alone. The evaluation entails baseline measurements of study outcomes as well as follow-up measurements at 6 and 12 months. Accelerometry measures PA intensity over a period of six days, with the mean over six days used as the primary outcome measure. Secondary outcomes include childrens' BMI, a sum of averaged skin fold thickness measurements across multiple sites, and PA behaviour. Longitudinal multilevel models are used to assess within-subject change and between-group differences in study outcomes, adjusted for covariates at the preschool and individual levels. Teacher qualitative interviews monitor the intervention implementation process.</p> <p>Discussion</p> <p>Participatory approaches that actively involve parents have the potential to promote PA in ways that might be better tailored to local needs and more sustainable. Our mixed methods approach to assess the intervention efficacy and implementation employing both quantitative and qualitative measures within a cluster-randomized controlled trial may serve as a framework for evaluating public health interventions in preschool settings.</p> <p>Trial Registration</p> <p><b>clinicaltrials.gov No: NCT00987532</b></p

Adolescent Girls and Their Mothers Talk About Experiences of Binge and Loss of Control Eating

Evidence suggests that adolescents’ experience of binge eating (BE) might differ in important ways from that of adults. Moreover, although BE appears more common in African American women than other disordered eating behaviors, little is known about the influence of cultural factors on this behavior in adolescents. The current investigation used qualitative methodology to examine the perceptions of White and African American adolescent girls and their mothers regarding experiences of binge and loss of control eating. Five focus groups were completed with 19 adolescent girls (aged 13–17, 58 % African American, 41 % White) who endorsed loss of control eating behaviors. Their mothers (N = 19) also completed separate, concurrent focus groups addressing food and eating behaviors. Responses to focus group questions were analyzed using thematic qualitative analysis. Adolescents’ awareness of their eating behaviors varied greatly. Girls reported some awareness of how emotions influence their eating behaviors, and described using food to achieve autonomy. Mothers evidenced awareness of their daughters’ problematic eating behaviors, the effects of emotions on eating for both their daughters and themselves, and sociocultural factors influencing diet. Data from these focus groups can inform the development of innovative interventions for adolescent girls engaging in loss of control eating