A Mixed Methods Exploration of Maternal Perceptions and Concerns about Their Young Child´s Weight and Maternal Feeding Practices in Bradford

Background: Childhood overweight should be prevented from early childhood. This thesis aims to contribute to the understanding of the factors that influence feeding practices amongst mothers of pre-school children living in Bradford.
Methods: I used an explanatory sequential mixed methods design to explore the perceptions and concerns that mothers have about their child’s weight and their feeding practices. For the quantitative strand, data from the Born in Bradford cohort was used to: describe the mothers’ perceptions of their child’s and own weight, their concerns that their child will become overweight; identify mother and child characteristics associated with inaccurate estimations of the child’s weight, concern that the child will become overweight, maternal feeding practices; and explore the relationship between perceptions and concerns and feeding practices. The qualitative strand aimed to add depth and further insight into attitudes that mothers have towards their child’s weight, childhood overweight and feeding practices. One-to-one interviews were conducted with mothers, early years workers and health professionals, and analysed using thematic analysis.
Results: Some mothers were unable to estimate their own and their child’s weight accurately. Pakistani mothers were more likely to underestimate in comparison to White British mothers. Concerns about childhood overweight seemed to be not as frequent as concerns about low weight. Underestimation of a healthy weight child may lead mothers to seek support, whereas mothers who do not recognise overweight may not seek support. Concerns about overweight and awareness that a child is overweight may not lead mothers to undertake healthier practices if they do not have strategies to undertake these.
Conclusions: Health professionals and early years workers are a key resource to communicate effectively with the mothers about their expectations and concerns about their child’s growth and feeding practices and may refer to services that provide advice on how to maintain healthy growth.