Latina Voices in Childhood Obesity

Abstract

South Carolina has one of the highest rates of obesity in the nation and, proportionately, more Latino children aged 2-5 years are obese compared to black and white children in the state. Latina mothers will identify the barriers and opportunities for physical activity for Latino children in West Columbia SC and propose policy recommendations. This is a qualitative pilot study with 12 Latina mothers using Photovoice to identify barriers and opportunities for physical activity for their children. Community stakeholder and school staff interviews (eight) also were conducted. Latinas discussed the data collected and developed potential solutions to the problems. Data collection and analysis took place in the city of West Columbia during 2010-2011. Content analysis of focus groups and interview transcripts were conducted using descriptive qualitative coding techniques. Latina mothers positively described their neighborhoods as their homes but also identified several environmental barriers to physical activity including lack of transportation, not being able to speak English, lack of knowledge of their children's opportunities at school, and feelings of discrimination due to anti-immigration sentiments in the state. Mothers also proposed to improve their family diets, advocate for better equipment in public parks, building of community sidewalks, and increasing neighborhood police presence. Latina mothers demonstrated knowledge about factors related to childhood obesity and proposed solutions to the problems and worked to organize their communities to present alternatives to policymakers. This study underscores the importance of including community input when planning programs addressing childhood obesity.