Influence of social context on eating, physical activity, and sedentary behaviors of Latina mothers and their preschool-age children.
As more U.S. children grow up in Latino families, understanding how social class, culture, and environment influence feeding practices is key to preventing obesity. The authors conducted six focus groups and 20 in-depth interviews among immigrant, low-income Latina mothers in the Northeast United States and classified 17 emergent themes from content analysis according to ecologic frameworks for behavior change. Respondents related environmental influences to child feeding, diet, and activity, namely, supermarket proximity, food cost, access to recreational facilities, neighborhood safety, and weather. Television watching was seen as integral to family life, including watching during meals and using TV as babysitter and tool to learn English. Participation in the WIC program helped families address food insecurity, and child care provided healthy eating and physical activity opportunities. Health promotion efforts addressing obesity trends in Latino children must account for organizational and environmental influences on the day-to-day social context of young immigrant families.
Lindsay
Ana C
AC
Department of Nutrition, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA. alindsay@harvard.edu
Sussner
Katarina M
KM
Greaney
Mary L
ML
Peterson
Karen E
KE
D000328:Adult; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003466:Cultural Characteristics; D004032:Diet / Q000191:economics / Q000208:ethnology*; D005247:Feeding Behavior / Q000208:ethnology*; D005260:Female; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000379:methods; D006630:Hispanic or Latino / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D009035:Mothers; D009043:Motor Activity; D009765:Obesity / Q000208:ethnology / Q000517:prevention & control; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D012931:Social Environment; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014504:Urban Health; D055815:Young Adult