Diet and physical activity changes among low-income families: perspectives of mothers and their children

ABSTRACT

Purpose: The current study explored how mothers and their children influence each other’s diet and physical activity.

Methods: We conducted semi-structured interviews with women with diabetes and their children (N = 18) from eight low-income families.

Results: Two approaches to changes emerged: collaborative and non-collaborative. Families using collaborative approaches believed they could sustain positive changes through accepting family changes, encouragement, abstaining from buying certain foods, modelling and compromise. Within families using non-collaborative approaches, some challenges included using more individualistic approaches and poor communication. Lack of information and resource constraints challenged all families.

Conclusion: Interventions should reinforce family collaborative approaches and teach skills for families to work together towards a healthier lifestyle.

KEYWORDS:

• Diet
• family
• obesity
• parent-child relations
• physical activity

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the families who so openly shared their thoughts and stories with us and our community partners who helped recruit them.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the NIH K23HL093354.

Notes on contributors

Jenny Zhen-Duan

Jenny Zhen-Duan, M.A. is a doctoral candidate in Clinical Psychology at the University of Cincinnati. She received her undergraduate degrees in Psychology and Sociology at the University of Puerto Rico- Rio Piedras. Her research interest focuses on how cultural and contextual factors relate to physical and mental health outcomes among traditionally marginalized groups, particularly low-income and Latinxs. Her research efforts with Latinx communities have yielded publications on topics of CBPR methodologies with community members as co-researchers, healthcare access, and substance use among Latinx adolescents. She is particularly committed to closing the gap on health disparities through academic-community partnerships. Through community-engaged research and intervention projects, she has had access to “hidden populations” while empowering the community to become the principal drivers of social change.

Bery Engebretsen

Bery Engebretsen MD graduated from the University of Miami Family Medicine Residency in 1970, where he trained and then taught in one of the original FQHCs. He was a faculty member of the University of Miami, Department of Family Medicine from 1972–1977, including serving as Director of Medical Education and Residency Director. In 2004 he retired as Executive Director and Founder after 24 years with Primary Health Care, Inc., the FQHC in central Iowa. In 2005 he rejoined PHC as Chief Medical Officer. He provides direct patient care as a family physician. He was a founding board member of the Iowa/Nebraska Primary Care Association, (now the Iowa PCA). He was the first President of INConcertCare, the Health Centre Controlled Network for Iowa and Nebraska CHCs. He works closely with the University of Iowa on research of interest to underserved communities. Dr. Engebretsen is a consultant for consulting firms and various Public Health Bureaus. Dr. Engebretsen’s entire career has been devoted to public sector health care in underserved communities. His current focus is on integrating behavioural health care into primary care and improving wellness services to the underserved by creating The Wellness Centre and Therapeutic Garden for PHC patients.

Helena H. Laroche

Helena H. Laroche MD is an associate professor of internal medicine and paediatrics at University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine. She earned a degree in Sociology from Brown University and a medical degree from the University of Missouri-Columbia. She did a combined residency in Internal Medicine and Paediatrics at University of Rochester in Rochester, New York. She did a research fellowship at the University of Michigan (Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholarship) and a year as Paediatric Health Services Research Fellow. Her research focuses on community and family obesity prevention (1) Working with families to help them improve their diet, exercise and sleep using health coaches and connecting them with community resources; (2) Using trained community members to promote physical activity among people in the community; (3) Improving the food offered at concession stands during school sports; (4) Changing university cafeterias to gently nudge students towards healthier choices; (5) Understanding how parents and children work together or not around diet and physical activity change and (6) Understanding how the environment in which families live (amount of traffic, graffiti and things that make people feel unsafe, distance to parks and playgrounds etc.) affects their ability to make diet and physical activity changes.