Reducing Hispanic Children’s Obesity Risk Factors in the First 1000 Days of Life: A Qualitative Analysis

Table 3

Themes related to weight gain and obesity risk factors in pregnancy, infancy, and early childhood among Hispanic women. ().

Beliefs and perceptions of pregnancy health
(i) Coping with own physical changes during pregnancy may trump healthy eating and physical activity; (ii) Weight extremes should be avoided during pregnancy
Perceptions of and influences on infant and child weight gain, feeding, screen time, and sleep
(i) Excess child weight gain in first years of life is possible but inconsequential; (ii) Maternal fear of infant hunger drives nonexclusive breastfeeding and addition of solid foods to bottles; (iii) Mothers feel responsible for ensuring infant satiety; (iv) Family beliefs about infant taste promote early introduction of solid foods and sugar-sweetened beverage intake; (v) Variation in maternal knowledge about healthy beverage choices for children; (vi) Maternal belief that screen time in the first two years of life is important for child development; (vii) Sleep routines should start in early life
Maternal explanatory factors for childhood obesity
(i) Maternal belief that early life weight gain impacts health but is unrelated to later life obesity; (ii) Overfeeding and early introduction of “adult” foods lead to childhood obesity