The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA

Abstract #71049

Amy M. Carroll, MPH¹, Patricia B Crawford, DrPH, RD², Poppy Strode, MS, MPH, RD³, Yolanda Becerra-Jones⁴, Wendi A. Gosliner, MPH, RD⁴, Cindy Anderson, MPH⁴, Lisa Craypo, MPH¹, and Sarah E. Samuels, DrPH¹. (1) Samuels & Associates, 1204 Preservation Park Way, Oakland, CA 94612, (510) 271-6799, amycarr@ucla.edu, (2) Department of Nutritional Sciences, University of California, Berkeley, 9 Morgan Hall, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720-3104, (3) WIC Branch, CA Department of Health Services, 3901 Lennane Drive, Sacramento, CA 95834, (4) Center for Weight and Health, University of California, Berkeley, 9 Morgan Hall, Berkeley, CA 94720

PURPOSE: To review the findings from focus groups conducted at local WIC agencies throughout California, which asked mothers of children under five years old to discuss barriers and solutions to providing good nutrition and a healthy lifestyle for their children. These focus groups were part of the assessment phase of the Fit WIC California project, a partnership between the California WIC Program and the University of California, Berkeley, which worked in three locations in the state to develop site-specific, community-driven interventions to improve nutrition and physical activity in low-income families. METHODS: Nine focus groups were conducted at seven local WIC sites in three locations in California. The participants were women with children under five, most of whom were Latina, with one focus group conducted solely with mothers of overweight children. The focus groups were videotaped, transcribed and then analyzed for emerging themes using the QSR NUD*IST qualitative data analysis software. FINDINGS: These mothers faced numerous barriers to providing good nutrition and healthy lifestyles for their children, such as: lack of safe parks or playgrounds, non-nutritious school lunches, children’s bad eating habits, their husbands’ bad eating habits, lack of convenient or affordable access to fresh produce, and other competing parental concerns in their lives. This presentation will discuss the statements and context behind these expressed needs, and present solutions for developing responsive and culturally sensitive solutions at local WIC agencies, which can address these barriers at both the parental and community levels.

Learning Objectives:

• At the conclusion of the session, participants will be able to:
• 3. Articulate the barriers California WIC participants face when attempting to provide good nutrition and a healthy lifestyle for their children.
  6. Discuss responsive and culturally sensitive solutions that can address these barriers at both the parental and community level.
  9. Understand the importance of collecting qualitative, contextual data from a target population in order to fully understand their needs and priorities, and to design the most responsive and culturally competent solutions to their service needs.

Keywords: WIC, Obesity

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.