Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health
Volume 21, Issue 4, 2019, Pages 778-786

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

Villegas E.* , Wiley A. , Hannon B. , Teran-Garcia M. , Hammons A.
  • a Department of Human Development and Family Studies, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, 904 W Nevada St., Urbana, IL, United States
  • b Department of Human Development and Family Studies, Auburn University, Auburn, AL, United States
  • c Department of Nutritional Sciences, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, United States
  • d Department of Human Development and Family Studies, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, 904 W Nevada St., Urbana, IL, United States, Department of Nutritional Sciences, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, United States
  • e Department of Child and Family Science, California State University, Fresno, Fresno, CA, United States

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. © 2018, Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.

Author Keywords

Hispanic health Family resiliency model Perceived stress

Index Keywords

[No Keywords available]
Link
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85052644905&doi=10.1007%2fs10903-018-0810-x&partnerID=40&md5=02f0e91545e3ddcbe8af7f3108d87970
DOI: 10.1007/s10903-018-0810-x
ISSN: 15571912
Original Language: English