Challenges to parent nutrition education: a qualitative study of parents of urban children attending low-income schools.

OBJECTIVE: The present study was undertaken to learn more about parents' (i) knowledge regarding healthy foods, factors associated with food purchasing and preparation, and current nutrition education resources, (ii) barriers to and promoters for establishing healthy eating habits for children and families, and (iii) interest in participating in nutrition interventions.

DESIGN: Focus group interviews were conducted with parents of low-income children from the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD).

SETTING: LAUSD Title 1 elementary schools where 50 % or more of students are eligible for free/reduced-price meals.

SUBJECTS: Sixty-four parents (93 % female; 84 % Hispanic/Latino) of elementary-school students.

RESULTS: The most common barriers to eating healthy foods were cost, difficulty in getting children to eat healthier foods and easy access to fast food. Parents had a basic knowledge about what foods are healthy and received most of their nutrition education through the media. Parents expressed a desire for nutrition classes and almost all of them said they would attend a nutrition programme at their child's school. Topic areas of interest included what to purchase, how to cook healthier foods, how to encourage their children to eat healthier and how to read food labels. Parents also requested classes that engage the whole family, especially fathers.

CONCLUSIONS: Parents in our study were interested in participating in nutrition education programmes. The information from these focus groups was used to design a parent nutrition education programme especially designed to respond to the needs of the LAUSD parents, the majority of whom are low-income and Hispanic/Latino.