Rural Midwestern Mexican Fathers’ Perspectives on Family Food, Mealtimes, and Physical Activity

ABSTRACT

Two focus group interviews with eight low-income Mexican fathers in two communities in a rural Midwestern state explored fathers’ perceptions, behaviors, and roles related to child and family food consumption, mealtimes, and physical activity. On average, fathers were 34 years of age, had 10 years of formal education, and annual household incomes ranged from $36,250 to $46,249. Findings include the identification of fifteen themes through the process of thematic analysis that are organized by five thematic areas of interest (family food patterns, strategies for healthy eating, family roles in food shopping and preparation, family mealtimes, physical activity among families). Findings revealed ways fathers contributed to their children’s and families’ health and well-being, and challenges they faced. Health promotion efforts aimed at rural, low-income Mexican immigrant families can benefit from embracing fathers’ perspectives and how they influence the health and well-being of their children and families.

KEYWORDS:

• Mexican immigrant fathers
• child and family health

Acknowledgement

The Abriendo Caminos Research Team includes Margarita Teran-Garcia, MD, PhD (PI) and Barbara Fiese, PhD (PD) at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; Angela Wiley, PhD (PD) at Auburn University; Amber Hammons, PhD (PD) at California State University, Fresno; Kimberly Greder, PhD (PD) at Iowa State University; Maria Plaza-Delestre, PhD (PD) and Nancy J. Correa Matos, PhD (Co-PI) at the University of Puerto Rico; and Norma Olvera, PhD (PD) at University of Houston. A special thank you to Stephanie Sloane, Research Specialist at the Family Resiliency Center at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, for her assistance in conducting initial coding of the data. Additionally, this study is possible due to the willingness of the fathers who shared their perspectives and experiences, and the community based interviewers who provided their time and expertise.

Disclosure of interests

In accordance with Taylor & Francis policy and my ethical obligation as a researcher, I am reporting that I do not have a financial and/or business interests in a company that may be affected by the research reported in the enclosed paper.

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Additional information

Funding

This research project was supported by the following: (1) Agriculture and Food Research Initiative Competitive grant no. 2015-68001-23248 from the US Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture under the Childhood Obesity Prevention Challenge Area to Cooperative Extension and the Department of Human Development and Family Studies at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the view of the US Department of Agriculture. (2) Vice President for Extension and Outreach Strategic Initiative grant from Iowa State University Extension and Outreach to Kimberly Greder and Himar Hernandez for the project, “Integrated Latino youth, family, community and business development.”