Central American Parents' Preferences for Content and Modality for a Family-Centered Intervention to Promote Healthful Energy Balance-Related Behaviors of Their Preschool-Age Children.
Elizabeth N Díaz, Qun Le, Daniel Campos, Jesnny M Reyes, Julie A Wright, Mary L Greaney, Ana Cristina Lindsay
Author Information
Elizabeth N Díaz: Department of Exercise and Health Sciences, College of Nursing and Health Sciences, University of Massachusetts Boston, Boston, MA 02125, USA.
Qun Le: Department of Public Health, Zuckerberg College of Health Sciences, University of Massachusetts Lowell, Lowell, MA 01854, USA.
Daniel Campos: Department of Exercise and Health Sciences, College of Nursing and Health Sciences, University of Massachusetts Boston, Boston, MA 02125, USA.
Jesnny M Reyes: Department of Exercise and Health Sciences, College of Nursing and Health Sciences, University of Massachusetts Boston, Boston, MA 02125, USA.
Julie A Wright: Department of Exercise and Health Sciences, College of Nursing and Health Sciences, University of Massachusetts Boston, Boston, MA 02125, USA. ORCID
Mary L Greaney: Department of Health Studies, College of Health Sciences, University of Rhode Island, Kingston, RI 02881, USA. ORCID
Ana Cristina Lindsay: Department of Exercise and Health Sciences, College of Nursing and Health Sciences, University of Massachusetts Boston, Boston, MA 02125, USA. ORCID
This formative research used a cross-sectional survey to assess interest in informational content and intervention modalities for the design of an early childhood obesity prevention intervention for Central American families from the Northern Triangle countries (El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras) living in the United States. A total of 74 parents (36 mothers, 38 fathers) with a mean age of 31.6 years (SD = 5.6) completed the survey; 59.5% of whom were born outside of the United States. Although most parents reported being very interested in receiving information related to the seven assessed energy balance-related behaviors, there were significant differences by parents' gender and nativity. Most parents endorsed remote modalities for content delivery via text/SMS, WhatsApp, and e-mail. However, respondents were also receptive to in-person delivery provided by community health workers. There were also significant differences in parents' preferences for intervention modalities by parents' gender and nativity. Future steps should include investigating different intervention modalities and their integration into a linguistic and culturally sensitive family-based intervention to promote healthful energy balance-related behaviors of preschool-age children in Central American families originating from the Northern Triangle countries.
