(P07-040-25) Value Priorities in Food Acquisition for Young Children Within Local Food Environments

Objectives: Values and how they are prioritized in food choice are not well understood. To advance this evidence, the objective of this study was to understand mothers’ value priorities in food acquisition for their children in the local food environment.

Methods: In-depth interviews with mothers of children ages 1-5 years old (n=46) and market observations at food sources (n=12) were conducted in 3 rural communities in Mexico. A semi-structured interview guide was developed and pretested to inquire about mothers’ upbringing and food experiences, foods offered to children, knowledge and meanings about food, food sources, and program participation. All interviews were conducted in Spanish, audio-recorded, primarily in mothers’ homes, transcribed verbatim, and verified for quality. Market observations were made at publicly accessible food sources when about 75% of all interviews were completed. Interviews were analyzed using the constant comparative method, and coding of market observations complemented interview analysis to verify characterization of the local food environment.

Results: The local food environment consisted of market and non-market food sources: retail, pantry programs, production, wild sources, and social ties. Mothers leveraged time and interpersonal relationships as resources to attenuate limited finances and help them navigate their local food environment. Mothers acquired foods for the home and those perceived to have nourishing properties for their children. Nourishment and happiness were two prominent value priorities in mothers’ food acquisition, which created tension in the types of foods they wanted to offer to children (i.e., nutritious) and those they acquired (i.e., nutritious and energy-dense, nutrient poor (EDNP)). Mothers tended to yield to children’s EDNP food requests, especially when children joined during food purchase episodes.

Conclusions: In their food acquisition, mothers prioritized offering nourishing diets and fostering happiness. The tension between mothers’ value priorities in their food acquisition, combined with children’s environmental exposure to EDNP foods, underscores the need to better understand value priorities and the exposures that food environments create.

Funding Sources: SPARC Graduate Research Grant, Office of the Vice President for Research at the University of South Carolina.