Piloting a food photo sorting activity in Samoa to assess maternal beliefs and their role in child diet

Abstract

Eating habits begin forming early in life when parental beliefs and behaviours often play a major role in shaping dietary intake. We aimed to assess maternal beliefs about the cost, social status, and nutritional value of foods in Samoa—a setting with an alarming burden of childhood obesity—and to determine how those beliefs may be related to child dietary intake. Samoan mothers (n = 44) sorted photographs of 26 foods commonly consumed in children in Samoa by cost, social status, and nutritional value (healthfulness). Responses were then assessed for their association with child dietary intake (reported using a food frequency questionnaire) using Pearson correlations. Mothers indicated that traditional Samoan foods were healthier, of higher social status, and lower cost compared with non-traditional/imported food items. Compared with nutritional experts and a market survey of food prices, mothers demonstrated strong nutritional (r =.87, 95% CI [0.68, 0.95], p