Shaping our Kids’ Diets: Home and Neighborhood

Abstract

ObjectiveFollowing the social‐ecological framework, we aimed to characterize barriers and facilitators that primary caregivers living in a food desert experience when providing foods for their children, and strategies to overcome those barriers.MethodsUsing a purposive sampling design, we identified 15 primary caregivers of young children (< 10 years old) who live in Ward 7, a food desert in Washington DC. Semi‐structured, in‐depth interview guides were used to ask primary caregivers about a typical day, whether they agreed with the statement that they are feeding their children the foods that they would like to feed them, and what made it easier or harder for them to provide the foods they want to provide for the children. A participatory workshop with all respondents sought to identify common barriers and strategies to overcome those barriers. Interviews from all sessions were recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed systematically following the social ecological framework (ATLAS.ti version 5).ResultsWe interviewed five mothers and ten grandparents. Common factors that acted as barriers or facilitators included health concerns of the primary caregiver that shape what was available at home to eat; monetary and time budgeting for food acquisition and preparation; child's food preferences and requests on foods; perceptions that kids waste foods if they are not fed what they desire; perception that kids’ appetite is not satisfied by what is offered at school or at home. The support of or conflict with family and friends can either mitigate or exacerbate challenges faced by kids’ preferences and health concerns. At the community level, respondents valued resources provided by organized groups (i.e. food giveaways, church lunches, dinners, and other programs offered by non‐governmental organizations). Results provide some evidence that the themes typically associated with a food desert emerged only among respondents who had access to a car (or to a friends’ or relative's car). For example, these respondents described how distance to supermarkets, external appearance of stores, and internal appearance of products, influenced place and frequency of shopping, and limited the types of foods they would have preferred to offer to their children. Among those who did not have good access to transportation, these themes did not emerge, and their barriers and facilitators related more to money and time budgeting, home and family conflicts, and availability of community resources. Participants expressed the desire to gain more knowledge about nutrition and diet, resources available in the community, and budgeting skills. A small group of respondents was interested in organizing to demand that the one supermarket in the neighborhood provided better food products.ConclusionBarriers and facilitators at the individual level are exacerbated or mitigated by family, social, and neighborhood characteristics. Our results suggest that perceived barriers and identified strategies were influenced by the respondents’ ability to compare and contrast their community environment to other neighborhoods.Support or Funding InformationHoney W. Nashman Center for Civic Engagement and Public Service