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. 2021 Aug 2;18(15):8159. doi: 10.3390/ijerph18158159

Table 3.

Summary of themes with facilitators and barriers segregated subthemes.

Themes Subthemes
Theme 1. Food choices, nutrition and health Facilitators
Self-perceived nutrition value of foods
Mother’s health literacy including knowledge of healthy foods
Multiple sources of nutritional information
Barriers
Inadequate health and nutrition literacy of mothers.
Theme 2. Availability and accessibility of foods Facilitators
Easily available heathy food items, while dinning out or other places of outing.
Barriers
Availability, costs, and affordability of unhealthy foods.
Theme 3. Buying time for parents Facilitators
Empowering and upskilling mothers to withstand children demands.
Barriers
Time constraints in the preparation of healthy meals.
Abundant availability of unhealthy foods and advertising aimed directly at young children.
Theme 4. Child’s age and their preference on food choices Facilitators
Put restrictions on advertising unhealthy foods on TV and social media.
Restrict the display of unhealthy products in retailers.
Barriers
Children autonomy in making choices for their meals and drinks.
Mothers’ assumption of an association between choice of food and children age
Inability to withstand the child’s demand and temperament.
Role of family members, friends, and media to influence children feeding choice
Theme 5. Conditioning certain behaviours by family and cultural factors Facilitators
Previous experience with older children influences mother’s dietary choices for younger child.
Encourage rewards for good behaviour, or achievements.
Mothers’ healthy decisions to obscure unhealthy foods from sights of the children
Role modelling behaviour influences child’s meal, drink, and snack choices.
Barriers
Culture, belief, and misconception about healthy foods.