Maternal beliefs and determinants of child feeding behaviors among East Coast farmworker families

Introduction: Overweight and obesity are highly prevalent among children of migrant and seasonal Latino farmworkers in the US. This health disparate population faces challenges to child health due to community (largely rural residence), situational (migratory lifestyle), structural (poverty, lack of access to services), and cultural (beliefs and values) factors. This study was designed to explore the interaction of such factors in determining maternal feeding behaviors for young children in East Coast farmworker families. Methods: In-depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 31 migrant and seasonal farmworker mothers of 2-5 year olds focusing on beliefs and constraints related to child feeding. Thematic analysis compared and contrasted migrant and seasonal farmworkers. Results: Among all mothers, limited access to preferred food sources, financial constraints, and conflict between mother and child food preferences influenced food-related behavior. Among migrants, time constraints and limited capacity to produce preferred meals due to migratory lifestyle added further constraints on mothers' behaviors. Mothers valued feeding children “Mexican” rather than “American” foods to help establish child identity, but lack of access to appropriate food sources and use of child care programs prevented mothers from feeding children a traditional diet. Conclusion: Famworker families face constraints in carrying out preferred child feeding behaviors due to a wide range of factors. While some are likely common to other minority, low income populations, some reflect aspects of the migratory lifestyle. Understanding such factors is imperative to designing culturally-appropriate programs to prevent overweight and obesity in this health disparate population.