“She looks out for the meals, period”: African American men's perceptions of how their wives influence their eating behavior and dietary health

INTRODUCTION. African American men are disproportionately affected by chronic diseases associated with unhealthy eating. Women play a critical role in men's dietary health, but the nature and mechanisms of wives' influence on men's eating behavior is not well understood, especially from men's perspectives. This study examines how African American men described roles their wives played in shaping their eating behavior. METHODS. Thematic content analysis was used to analyze data from nine exploratory focus groups conducted with 83 middle aged or older, African American men from southeast Michigan. RESULTS. Men described traditional, gendered food roles at home and were satisfied that their wives played a dominant role in household food preparation and decision making. The men indicated their wives influenced what they ate at home more than their own preferences, though they perceived more freedom to choose preferred, usually unhealthy, foods outside the home, even when accompanied by their wives. Men had mixed feelings about wives' efforts to prepare healthier meals at home. While they appreciated that their wives cared about their health, the men felt they were rarely consulted on how meals could be made healthier and often disliked the food changes their wives made. Men prioritized keeping their wives happy, preserving spousal division of roles, and maintaining marital harmony over participating in food decision making or expressing their preferences. DISCUSSION. Consistent with Interdependence Theory, our findings showed that married men may be more influenced by pro-relationship objectives than a desire to actively participate in food decision making at home.