The Effects of Hispanic Immigrant Mother’s Resiliency on Children’s Dietary Adjustment

Elizabeth Villegas, Angela Wiley, Bridget Hannon, Margarita Teran-Garcia, Amber Hammons

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

This study explored the adjustment phase of the resiliency model of family adjustment and adaptation, particularly how stress and food insecurity interact with protective mechanisms to influence children’s dietary adjustment. With increasing rates of Hispanic childhood obesity and disproportionate health disparities, this is an issue that must be better understood. Altogether, 137 Mexican immigrant mothers from Illinois and California completed questionnaires reporting their stressors, protective mechanisms, and family health behaviors. Multiple regression analyses revealed that higher perceived stress levels for mothers predicted non-nutritive snacking reasons. Furthermore, mother’s dietary patterns predicted child’s poor dietary quality. Taken together, maternal stressors play a role in family health behaviors, and future studies should consider household food environment factors when trying to understand protective mechanisms for families.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)778-786
Number of pages9
JournalJournal of immigrant and minority health
Volume21
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - Aug 1 2019

Keywords

  • Family resiliency model
  • Hispanic health
  • Perceived stress

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Epidemiology
  • Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health

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