It’s the mother’s fault! Gender and food choices of children with cardiovascular risk factors

Abstract

This is a qualitative study on the food choice process of children with cardiovascular risk factors, highlighting gender issues in the perceptions of parents and caregivers. Parents or caregivers of children between 6 and 10 years old were interviewed in the municipality of Ouro Preto, Minas Gerais, diagnosed with overweight or obesity, dyslipidemia, hypertension or insulin resistance. This work sought to relate of participants socioeconomic and family structure characteristics to perceptions and feelings about food choices. The centrality of the mother in the process of choosing the food offered to children was evident, reinforcing women’s practical and symbolic relationship with care tasks, including preparing and offering food. Participants expressed guilt and fear of social judgment regarding their children’s health and well-being, especially those who work or have little support network. This research, through a typology of maternal profiles, concluded that the process of feeding children is closely related to the mother’s double shift of work and the need for a support network and can be reflected in suffering, guilt and anguish for mothers, in particular, when the child presents health problems linked to nutrition.