The cultural recipe: Mexican mothers' conceptualizations and complementary feeding practices

Formative research reveals cultural features that affect program delivery, but rarely examines the conceptual structure of caregiver complementary feeding practices. We studied these conceptualizations among low‐income women (n=29) with young children 6–18 months old in Morelos, Mexico. In‐depth interviews and home observations, guided by anthropological theories, were used to elucidate maternal knowledge and practices. Transcripts were systematically reviewed to identify major themes related to feeding young children, and coded using a combination of preselected codes and codes that emerged from the identification of themes. We identified 8 concepts that guided complementary feeding practices (CFP): (1) probaditas (the idea of introducing small tastes of foods), (2) preparing separate foods for infants, (3) readiness to eat solid foods, (4) appropriate consistency, (5) value of variety, (6) child likes and dislikes, (7) money, and (8) healthiness of foods (positive and negative foods). Among complementary foods, there was a clear demarcation of “core foods” (soups, broths, tortilla), “secondary core foods” (fruits, vegetables, animal‐source foods), and “peripheral foods” ( Danonino , yogurt, Yakult , atole ). In summary, there is a strong cultural prescription about how to feed children, which fundamentally affects what strategies could be used to improve upon existing CFP in this community. Funding sources, DNS Small Grants, Human Ecology Alumni Assoc., Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies, Cornell Unv.