Rural low-income mothers' perspectives on children's feeding practices

a candidate for the degree of doctor of philosophy, and hereby certify that, in their opinion, it is worthy of acceptance. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thanks the many people that have supported me and helped me in completing this paper. My parents for guiding me, teaching me, struggling with me in the early years and always believing that I could be anything I wanted to be. To my siblings that have cheered me on for the past several years and celebrated every step and success along the way. Dr. Bullock for teaching me that research is about people and relationships and encouraging me and helping me with recruitment. Dr. Ispa for her care and consistency during the research and writing process. My husband for his love, support and help in making my dreams come true. There are many more friends and faculty that has had great influence on my research and writing and life thank you all. ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to examine the knowledge, behaviors, motivation, and barriers that rural low-income women experience in feeding their young children. Qualitative descriptive research was used to investigate the knowledge, motivations, and practices of these mothers. The sample included 18 mothers whose children were under the age of 54 months. All mothers were English speaking, over the age of 18, living at or below 185% of the federal poverty line, participating in federal food programs (Women, Infants and Children (WIC) or Food Stamps), and living in Missouri counties considered more than 50% rural. Four main categories emerged from interviews with the mothers: (1) what mothers want for their children and why; (2) challenges; (3) feeding strategies; and (4) sources of strength. A major finding was that the mothers very much wanted to do what is best for their children; they wanted to provide nutritious foods and role-model healthful eating habits in order to help their children avoid diseases such as diabetes, obesity, and cancer. Additionally, the results suggested that mothers who relied on family, friends, and government programs (e.g. WIC, Food Stamps, TANF) provided more healthful foods for their young children than those who did not. (Some of the latter group narrowly missed the qualification cutoff for the federal programs.) Like previous research, the current study indicates that, for this sample of mothers, poverty and rural living intersect to create major challenges (e.g., limited financial reserves, long …