Table 3.

Themes and key quotes related to Latino mothers’ beliefs and practices about child weight status and family health in San Diego County, California, April–May 2011 (n 41)

Themes	Quotes
1.Cultural beliefs about health that are barriers to family health	Chubby is better
	‘We [Latinos] have the belief that before a chubby or obese child … was a healthy child.’
	‘… we [Latinos] were raised … that chubby children are healthy …. But that’s an error.’
	‘Well we [Latinos] come from … an upbringing that … chubby children were healthier in times from before, in our parents’ time ...’
	‘… my grandma raised us and she always said a chubby child is healthy, and for our family, a chubby child is always healthy.’
	Finish everything on your plate
	‘… when I was growing up my dad was from the generation that “you finish everything on your plate, because there aren’t any dogs here” – that’s what he would tell us.’
	‘I think that in our culture we still have the belief to finish everything on your plate.’
	‘I was raised like that [finish everything on your plate], but even worse: “You don’t like that? Then you get double portions.”’
	Cultural barriers to family health
	‘I’ve always cooked …. I came to the US …. Then I saw that the moms over here [in the USA] are not accustomed [to that]. They work. They can’t do so many [things]. Since [my children] were born, they’ve eaten home-cooked meals …; over here the whole world buys [food in] cans [and] jars. They warm it up; they put it in the micro. That’s what they eat.’
	‘… there is more fast food than there are recreational parks … on every corner.’
	Fatalism
	‘In my house they say, “why are you eating that [healthful foods] if one is going to die?”’
	‘… we are going to eat this … because in the end, we’re going to die from something ….’
	‘Also, in Mexican culture we [have the excuse] that “it’s hereditary – he’s chubby because it’s hereditary.”’
	‘If they [participant’s children] are going to suffer [from diabetes] in the future, it’s because of inheritance, but not because I’m not putting the food that my children should be eating on the table.’
2.Mothers as primary caretakers of their family’s health	Mothers as family caretakers
	‘… in our culture, the mother … is in charge of the family, we are selfless; the children come first, the husband comes first … and [we] are last .… We are used to doing our chores and we are not culturally accustomed to going out for a walk or doing some type of exercise with [the children].’
	‘In Mexico, the majority of the time the woman doesn’t work, but rather stays home with the children, and over there the daily nutrition was better, because in Mexico you cook ….’
	‘… sometimes we have to wait for an illness to come before making changes in the home.’
	Family-centred activities encourage mothers to support their family’s health
	‘Yes, your tummy will go away … you have to walk with mommy.’
	‘What I’ve done with my children is – we walk. They walk to school, to their friend’s house, we walk to the library, and we get involved with our children to do exercise …’
3.Attitudes about targeting children’s weight	‘[Obesity prevention starts] Right now … she’s little, she’s not fat but she’s starting to be, so I think to myself: skates, bicycle.’
	‘They [physical activity and diet] go hand in hand, exercise with nutrition.’
	‘One of the things that I would like to learn is how to motivate them [children] to eat this [healthy food] without telling them, “you have to eat this so you can be like Barbie”, because that results in anore[xia] … and other illnesses.’
	‘I don’t think there is ever an age to start exercising; all kids need to have an activity.’