Barriers and Facilitators Influencing Parents' Willingness to Follow Healthcare Provider Guidance for Addressing Behaviors Linked to Early Childhood Obesity Risk: A Qualitative Descriptive Study.
Taylor N Richardson, Melissa C Kay, Amy Corneli and 4 others
PMID 40072387WHAT IT FOUND
Parents of infants said they might set aside provider advice if they believed their baby was hungry or trusted their own intuition.
They were more open to changing feeding, sleep, or screen habits when providers explained reasons and they trusted the provider's intentions.
Key findings
01Parents described prioritizing their perception of infant hunger and relying on parental intuition as barriers to following provider recommendations.
02Parents described understanding the provider's reasoning and trusting the provider's motivations as facilitators.
03Stated willingness varied: about half were open to some feeding and media changes, while most had reservations or were unwilling to try exclusive breastfeeding or increasing infant sleep.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
This was a small qualitative study of 20 parents at one pediatric primary care practice, so the themes may not apply to other families or settings. Only English-speaking parents were enrolled, which likely excluded many Hispanic families. Interview questions were tailored to each family's reported behaviors, so some behavior changes were discussed by only a few parents. The study asked about parents' stated willingness to follow hypothetical provider recommendations, not about actual behavior change or obesity outcomes. The researchers collected limited parent sociodemographic data and did not collect parent weight, which could have provided context. The study did not assess provider implicit bias or whether provider and infant race and ethnicity matched. Infants with diagnoses affecting growth or nutrition, very low or high birth weight, or preterm birth were excluded, so it says little about higher-risk infants.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not treat parents' stated willingness as proof that provider counseling will change infant feeding, sleep, or media habits and reduce obesity risk. This was a small qualitative study of hypothetical responses from 20 parents, not a tested intervention.