Exploring parents’ perspectives on feeding their young children: a qualitative study using photo-elicitation in Chile

Abstract

Objective: Childhood obesity is considered one of the most important public health problems around the world. Chile is currently one of the Latin American countries with a high prevalence of childhood obesity. Given that parents’ food parenting practices shape their children’s lifelong eating habits, addressing those practices is key to curbing later problems of obesity. However, studies of the influences on Chilean parents’ food parenting practices are scarce. Hence, this study explores factors that influence food parenting practices of preschool-aged children in Chile. Design: Qualitative research, using interviews with the photo-elicitation technique. Setting: Metropolitan Region, Chile Participants: Twenty-five parents from families recruited from public childcare centers. Results: Through a thematic analysis with an inductive approach, we identified five themes that influence food parenting practices: 1) Parents’ previous experiences and how they determine their current goals and beliefs; 2) Responses to the child’s characteristics; 3) The influences of other family members, especially grandparents; 4) Parents’ nutritional knowledge; 5) Living contexts, especially limited budgets and lack of time. Conclusions: The study reveals multilevel influences, which converge at the family level, on food parenting practices. A family-centered approach that addresses the mentioned influences is necessary to improve the management of the childhood obesity problem in Chile.

Food Parenting Practices Promoted by Childcare and Primary Healthcare Centers in Chile: What Influences Do These Practices Have on Parents? A Qualitative Study

“…[43]. The photoelicitation technique was used because it has been shown to be feasible to apply to deepen the study of eating in people of low socioeconomic status [39] and also because it has been used favorably in Chile to deepen the understanding of feeding behavior in women [39] and in parental feeding practices, in a similar sample of parents of low-income Chilean preschoolers [44].…”

Eating habits in children of student mothers of the Adventist University of Chile. A descriptive study

“…Chile es actualmente uno de los países que posee una alta prevalencia de obesidad infantil. (1) De hecho, el estudio de Glavin et al (2) señala que un incremento del índice de masa corporal (IMC) en los primeros años de vida puede estar vinculado a un mayor riesgo de obesidad a los 8 años.…”