Short communicationToddler-feeding practices among Mexican American mothers. A qualitative study☆
Introduction
The prevalence of obesity has become alarmingly high among young Latino and Native American children in the US (Anderson & Whitaker, 2009). More research is needed to guide culturally appropriate interventions because differences in child-feeding practices and styles (authoritarian, authoritative, indulgent, or neglectful) have been observed among diverse ethnic groups (Hughes, Power, Orlet Fisher, Mueller, & Nicklas, 2005). Controlling and restrictive maternal practices appear to increase the risk of overweight in white, middle-class children (Faith, Scanlon, Birch, Francis, & Sherry, 2004). However, permissive, indulgent feeding styles and practices, such as frequent child-led snacking, may precede the development of overweight in Latino children (Kaiser et al., 2001, Larios et al., 2009, Olvera and Power, 2009).
The above studies were conducted among preschool and school-age children, not toddlers. Relatively little research on dietary intake and feeding practices has been conducted in toddlers. The Feeding Infants and Toddlers Study (FITS) was a cross-sectional dietary intake survey of eating patterns in a random national sample of over 3000 infants and toddlers (Briefel, Ziegler, Novak, & Ponza, 2006). Although FITS describes many aspects of infant and toddler feeding, neither FITS nor have other studies investigated toddler feeding styles. To help fill the gap, this formative research was conducted to identify relevant behaviors, influences and attitudes that may reflect feeding styles in Latino parents with young children.
Section snippets
Methods
The University of California at Davis Institutional Review Board reviewed and approved this study. Mothers gave informed, written consent before interviews took place.
Participant characteristics
The median age of mothers was 26 years with a range of 21–36 years. Toddlers had a median age of 20 months with a range of 12–46 months (only one was not in the 12–36 month range). The median years of residency in the United States was 7 (range 1–25 years). Fourteen mothers were born in Mexico and the remaining four, in the U.S. Median maternal education was 9.7 years (range 5–14 years). Most women (83%) had breastfed their infants. Mothers reported introducing solid foods at the median age of 5 months.
Discussion
The pattern of responses to the ‘what’, ‘when’, and ‘how much’ to feed their toddlers may be related to an overall indulgent or permissive feeding style. Even when the food was perceived to be ‘bad’, mothers in our sample used strategies to avoid an outright refusal. Soda was an example where mothers offered alternative sweet beverage such as juice or allowed in small amounts to appease the child, particularly in cases where consumption was initiated by an adult.
The themes reported here are
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The authors would like to thank the Gustavus and Louise Pfeiffer Research Foundation for financial support, Luz ElviaVera Becerra for help in Spanish translation, and the women who participated in this research.