EBaby4U.com: Improving early infant feeding behaviors among low-resource African American teen mothers in Mississippi and the rural Southeast through social media

Background: Early infant feeding behaviors (EIFB) are linked to the development of childhood overweight/obesity, a national public health concern which disproportionately affects minority populations—such as low-resource African Americans in Mississippi and the rural Southeast. Research suggests that “racial/ethnic disparities in childhood obesity may be determined by factors that operate at the earliest stages of life” (Taveras et al, 2010) and these factors can be exacerbated for resource-limited minority teen mothers and their infants, given that poverty and younger age at pregnancy are associated with a number of negative outcomes such as non- or delayed prenatal care, low nutritional knowledge, low birth weight infants, non- or limited breastfeeding, and mistimed introduction of solid foods to infants. Despite a small number of eHealth programs for new mothers, there are considerable gaps in eHealth-based EIFB outreach to low-resource African American teen mothers, especially in highly rural and resource-limited states such as Mississippi. Methods & Results: To address these gaps, the eBaby Project: 1) has produced the eBaby4U.com website and nine eBaby educational videos for the target audience that are culturally relevant and scientifically based; 2) has pilot-tested eBaby4U.com and the nine eBaby videos among a Community Advisory Board of African American teen/young mothers; 3) is launching eBaby4U.com and distributing the eBaby videos across social media platforms popular among the target population (e.g., YouTube). Discussion: Implications for enhancing EIFB among low-resource African American teen mothers in highly rural and resource-limited states through social media are explored.