Payge Lindow1, Irene H Yen2, Mingyu Xiao3, Cindy W Leung3. 1. College of Literature, Science, and the Arts, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA. 2. School of Social Sciences, Humanities, and Arts, University of California, Merced, CA, USA. 3. Department of Nutritional Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI48109, USA.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: Using an adaption of the Photovoice method, this study explored how food insecurity affected parents' ability to provide food for their family, their strategies for managing household food insecurity and the impact of food insecurity on their well-being. DESIGN: Parents submitted photos around their families' experiences with food insecurity. Afterwards, they completed in-depth, semi-structured interviews about their photos. The interviews were transcribed and analysed for thematic content using the constant comparative method. SETTING: San Francisco Bay Area, California, USA. PARTICIPANTS: Seventeen parents (fourteen mothers and three fathers) were recruited from a broader qualitative study on understanding the experiences of food insecurity in low-income families. RESULTS: Four themes were identified from the parents' photos and interviews. First, parents described multiple aspects of their food environment that promoted unhealthy eating behaviours. Second, parents shared strategies they employed to acquire food with limited resources. Third, parents expressed feelings of shame, guilt and distress resulting from their experience of food insecurity. And finally, parents described treating their children to special foods to cultivate a sense of normalcy. CONCLUSIONS: Parents highlighted the external contributors and internal struggles of their experiences of food insecurity. Additional research to understand the experiences of the food-insecure families may help to improve nutrition interventions targeting this structurally vulnerable population.
OBJECTIVE: Using an adaption of the Photovoice method, this study explored how food insecurity affected parents' ability to provide food for their family, their strategies for managing household food insecurity and the impact of food insecurity on their well-being. DESIGN: Parents submitted photos around their families' experiences with food insecurity. Afterwards, they completed in-depth, semi-structured interviews about their photos. The interviews were transcribed and analysed for thematic content using the constant comparative method. SETTING: San Francisco Bay Area, California, USA. PARTICIPANTS: Seventeen parents (fourteen mothers and three fathers) were recruited from a broader qualitative study on understanding the experiences of food insecurity in low-income families. RESULTS: Four themes were identified from the parents' photos and interviews. First, parents described multiple aspects of their food environment that promoted unhealthy eating behaviours. Second, parents shared strategies they employed to acquire food with limited resources. Third, parents expressed feelings of shame, guilt and distress resulting from their experience of food insecurity. And finally, parents described treating their children to special foods to cultivate a sense of normalcy. CONCLUSIONS: Parents highlighted the external contributors and internal struggles of their experiences of food insecurity. Additional research to understand the experiences of the food-insecure families may help to improve nutrition interventions targeting this structurally vulnerable population.
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