Computer-mediated social influences on child feeding practices and childhood obesity risk: An exploratory analysis of food blogs published by mothers of preschool-aged children
Open Access
- Author:
- Hepworth, Allison D.
- Graduate Program:
- Human Development and Family Studies
- Degree:
- Master of Science
- Document Type:
- Master Thesis
- Date of Defense:
- None
- Committee Members:
- Leann L Birch, Thesis Advisor/Co-Advisor
Meg Leavy Small, Thesis Advisor/Co-Advisor - Keywords:
- Social media
blogs
social cognitive theory
child feeding practices - Abstract:
- Objectives: Blogs may be an emerging social context in which mothers learn about what and how to feed their children. Using a sample of 158 blog posts from 13 blogs focused on feeding young children, this study aimed to describe: (1) the types of recipes included in blog posts; (2) the child feeding beliefs and behaviors described; (3) the associations between recipe types and child feeding beliefs and behaviors; and 4) the extent to which blog posts referred to evidence-based content. Methods: Directed qualitative content analysis was used to code the text of blog posts for recipe type, child feeding beliefs and behaviors, and mentions of scientific research on child feeding. Coding schemes were developed from existing literature on children’s dietary intake and maternal child feeding practices. Code frequency was calculated to describe blog post content and chi-square tests of independence were conducted to examine the associations between recipe types and child feeding beliefs and behaviors. Results: Recipes were included in 65.8% of blog posts. Nearly 1-in-3 recipes were for mixed dishes (e.g., sandwiches) and nearly 1-in-5 were for sweets and desserts. Child feeding beliefs were coded in 77.8% of blog posts and primarily reflected beliefs about children’s food preferences. Child feeding behaviors were coded in 48.7% of blog posts and most frequently described involving children in food preparation. Recipes for vegetables were more likely to occur in posts that also included codes for encouraging balance and variety in children’s diets, X2(1, N = 104) = 18.54, p < .001. Only 1 out of 158 blog posts referred to scientific research on child feeding. Conclusions: Blogs that are focused on feeding young children appear to convey information that may influence readers’ own child feeding practices. Future research should explore how mothers use blogs to consume and disseminate information about child feeding, and examine bloggers’ interest in including evidence-based content about child feeding practices and childhood obesity prevention.