TY - JOUR
T1 - Low-Income Women’s Feeding Practices and Perceptions of Dietary Guidance
T2 - A Qualitative Study
AU - Savage, Jennifer S.
AU - Neshteruk, Cody D.
AU - Balantekin, Katherine N.
AU - Birch, Leann L.
N1 - Funding Information:
We appreciate the important contribution of Shirley Sword, Chief Nutrition Services at the Pennsylvania Women, Infants, and Children Program, for providing guidance when designing and implementing this study. The authors also extend their sincere appreciation to the Pennsylvania WIC Nutrition Program staff that assisted with recruitment for WIC participant focus groups. Lastly, we especially appreciate the insight of the many WIC mothers, without whose willingness to share their experiences; this project would not have been possible. Support for this work has been provided by Pennsylvania (PA) Department of Public Welfare through PA Nutrition Education Tracks, a part of USDA’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the Children, Youth, & Families Consortium at the Pennsylvania State University, and USDA Grant # 2011-67001-30117. The project described was also supported by the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, National Institutes of Health, through Grant UL1 TR000127. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the NIH.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2016, Springer Science+Business Media New York.
PY - 2016/12/1
Y1 - 2016/12/1
N2 - Objectives Describe themes characterizing feeding behaviors of low-income women participating in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), and identify the attitudes, beliefs, and sources of information that inform these practices. Methods Formative research was conducted including focus groups and semi-structured individual phone interviews with a total of 68 low-income women participating in WIC. Qualitative data were recorded, transcribed, imported into NVivo 8.0, and analyzed for common themes. Results Mothers reported feeding behaviors inconsistent with guidance from WIC and the American Academy of Pediatrics. Three main themes were identified. First, mothers reported receiving conflicting messaging/advice from medical professionals, WIC nutritionists, and family members, which was confusing. Mothers also reported dissatisfaction with the “one size fits most” approach. Lastly, mothers reported relying on their “instincts” and that “all babies are different” when deciding and rationalizing what feeding guidance to follow. Conclusions Future interventions targeting this high-risk population should consider developing personalized (individualized) messaging, tailored to the needs of each mother–child dyad. Focused efforts are needed to build partnerships between WIC providers and other health care providers to provide more consistent messages about responsive feeding to prevent early obesity.
AB - Objectives Describe themes characterizing feeding behaviors of low-income women participating in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), and identify the attitudes, beliefs, and sources of information that inform these practices. Methods Formative research was conducted including focus groups and semi-structured individual phone interviews with a total of 68 low-income women participating in WIC. Qualitative data were recorded, transcribed, imported into NVivo 8.0, and analyzed for common themes. Results Mothers reported feeding behaviors inconsistent with guidance from WIC and the American Academy of Pediatrics. Three main themes were identified. First, mothers reported receiving conflicting messaging/advice from medical professionals, WIC nutritionists, and family members, which was confusing. Mothers also reported dissatisfaction with the “one size fits most” approach. Lastly, mothers reported relying on their “instincts” and that “all babies are different” when deciding and rationalizing what feeding guidance to follow. Conclusions Future interventions targeting this high-risk population should consider developing personalized (individualized) messaging, tailored to the needs of each mother–child dyad. Focused efforts are needed to build partnerships between WIC providers and other health care providers to provide more consistent messages about responsive feeding to prevent early obesity.
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U2 - 10.1007/s10995-016-2076-z
DO - 10.1007/s10995-016-2076-z
M3 - Article
C2 - 27465059
AN - SCOPUS:84979983371
SN - 1092-7875
VL - 20
SP - 2510
EP - 2517
JO - Maternal and child health journal
JF - Maternal and child health journal
IS - 12
ER -
