title: Motives Underlying Food Choice for Children and Perception of Nutritional Information Among Low-Income Mothers in a Latin American Country.
abstract: The aim of the present study was to investigate the influence of nutritional information on how low-income mothers select food for their children.
  
  
  
  Five focus groups, each consisting of 5-10 participants, were conducted.
  
  
  
  Women, older than 18 years, mothers of young children who were beneficiaries of one of the national food stamps programs in Uruguay.
  
  
  
  Focus group discussions were held around motives underlying food choices for children and perception of labeling systems.
  
  
  
  Transcripts of the focus group discussions were analyzed using inductive coding.
  
  
  
  Forty-two women, aged between 18 and 40 years, participated in 5 focus groups. Results showed that low-income mothers do not consider nutritional information when selecting food their children. Traditional nutritional labeling was perceived as complex, difficult to find, and difficult to understand. Participants stressed that they relied on the nutrition claims included on labels for assessing the healthfulness of food products. Semi-directive and directive front-of-pack labels were positively evaluated in terms of ease of interpretation. Participants preferred the traffic light system over other alternatives.
  
  
  
  Results suggest the need to implement simplified nutritional labeling and to regulate the use of nutrition claims on products targeted at children.
authors.affiliation: Centro de Investigación Básica en Psicología, Facultad de Psicología, Universidad de la República, Montevideo, Uruguay.
authors.forename: Leandro
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Machín
authors.affiliation: Centro de Investigación Básica en Psicología, Facultad de Psicología, Universidad de la República, Montevideo, Uruguay; Sensometrics & Consumer Science, Instituto Polo Tecnológico de Pando, Facultad de Química, Universidad de la República, Canelones, Uruguay.
authors.forename: Ana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Giménez
authors.affiliation: Instituto Nacional de Alimentación, Montevideo, Uruguay.
authors.forename: María Rosa
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Curutchet
authors.affiliation: Instituto Nacional de Alimentación, Montevideo, Uruguay.
authors.forename: Joseline
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Martínez
authors.affiliation: Centro de Investigación Básica en Psicología, Facultad de Psicología, Universidad de la República, Montevideo, Uruguay; Sensometrics & Consumer Science, Instituto Polo Tecnológico de Pando, Facultad de Química, Universidad de la República, Canelones, Uruguay. Electronic address: gares@fq.edu.uy.
authors.forename: Gastón
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ares
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002675:Child, Preschool; D017144:Focus Groups; D005518:Food Preferences / Q000523:psychology*; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D009035:Mothers / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D009753:Nutritive Value; D002666:Psychology, Child / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014583:Uruguay; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: focus group; food labeling; traffic light system