Ethnicity and Diet of Children: Development of Culturally Sensitive Measures

Abstract

Obesity is a growing global concern. Examining dietary habits of individuals can facilitate the development of important prevention approaches, which are needed to decrease the incidence of obesity and other related diseases and improve quality of life indices. Because food preferences and dietary habits vary across cultures, it is essential that prevention programs are based on specific populations. Using both ethnographic and quantitative methods, food-consumption patterns were investigated among 1,125 children in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. Differences were observed related to food frequency, age of children, and grade level. Exploratory factor analyses suggested that the individual foods were best organized into food-consumption groups that reflected cultural characteristics rather than more commonly referenced food organizational systems. In addition to developmental differences in food consumption patterns, results suggest that the ethnicity of parents may play a role in the diet of children.

Childhood Obesity Prevention: An Intervention Targeting Primary Caregivers of School Children

“…Context relevant demographic, familial, and sociocultural variables discussed previously were identified for use in this study (8,22,23). These included maternal and paternal ethnicity of the child, caregiver and child's age and gender, caregiver's educational level, school lunch eligibility as indicated by the caregiver, household structure, history of prior participation in health education, and caregiver's perception of child's weight normalcy status.…”

A Cross-sectional Analysis of Food Perceptions, Food Preferences, Diet Quality, and Health in a Food Desert Campus

“…When responsiveness to basic tastants were assessed, participants identifying as Hispanics were more responsive to taste stimuli compared to non-Hispanics (15). Ethnicity can serve as an indicator of future dietary preferences as commonly consumed foods during childhood may influence food choices (58–60). In our study, participants who identified as Hispanics had higher liking ratings for selected fruits, vegetables, and nuts, as well as higher HEI total fruits and sodium scores than those who identified as non-Hispanics.…”

Profiles of Cultural Adaptation and Parenting Approach for Childhood Obesity in Lifestyle Interventions for Families With Young Children

“…Reviews in the field of healthy lifestyles and the prevention of overweight have emphasized the importance of culturally adapted interventions since parents' cultural background plays a role in their children's upbringing and feeding patterns,6,7 as well as obesity interventions for preschool children 8,9. Therefore, a “one-size-fits-all” approach to interventions is not sufficient 10–12.…”

“…Parental sensitivity, structure, and control in everyday eating situations leave their mark on young children's feeding patterns and are a strong predictor of eating behavior later in life 27. General parenting styles and specific feeding styles and food-related parenting practices are associated with the cultural background of families 7. The theoretical model proposed by Sleddens and colleagues,28 which focuses on upbringing to achieve lifestyle-related behavioral change in families, puts, therefore, parenting at the heart of interventions.…”

“… 27 General parenting styles and specific feeding styles and food-related parenting practices are associated with the cultural background of families. 7 The theoretical model proposed by Sleddens and colleagues, 28 which focuses on upbringing to achieve lifestyle-related behavioral change in families, puts, therefore, parenting at the heart of interventions. Some lifestyle interventions for families with children in their early years take into account general parenting styles of families (eg, authoritarian, authoritative, permissive, or uninvolved parenting) 29 and/or specific feeding styles and food-related parenting practices (eg, parents' self-efficacy to provide healthy foods, providing rules/structure in meal setting and timing, explaining to child why healthy foods are important, promoting fun in healthy eating habits, and being a role model for child).…”