Parental experience of counselling about food and feeding practices at the child health centre: A qualitative study

Abstract

Aims and objectives: To investigate how parents experience counselling about food and feeding practices and the use of a communication tool about diet at the child health centre.

Background: Food-related counselling is a key element in parents' consultations with public health nurses at child health centres. Public health nurses possess limited strategies and tools for addressing nutritional issues, especially in the context of client diversity.

Design: An interpretive description approach, fulfilling the COREQ checklist criteria.

Methods: Individual interviews performed between January 2017-May 2017 among parents (n = 12) of children (mean age 28 months) who had been exposed to a communication tool about diet, in regular child health centre consultations with their child. These consultations were included in clinical trial (ClinicalTrials.gov.: Identifier: NCT02266953).

Results: Counselling using the communication tool about diet was primarily based on the public health nurse presenting images of healthy food choices. After infancy, consultations sometimes became more time-pressured, inhibiting parents from asking questions related to the child's diet. The parents who had questions related to food allergy or breastfeeding of their child sometimes experienced limited support. Some parents felt overwhelmed with information about healthy food choices if their child's diet differed from the recommendations presented.

Conclusions: The parents' existing expectations and needs had an impact on their satisfaction in relation to their perceptions of nutritional counselling. The use of the communication tool about diet to promote a two-way dialogue instead of providing one-way dietary information might be particularly useful in consultations for parents who do not follow customary recommendations.

Relevance to clinical practice: If the diet of the family differs from what is recommended, parents often experience limited support at the child health centre. Promoting a two-way dialogue in consultations using a communication tool about diet could help parents in their concerns related to feeding their child.

Keywords: child; child health services; counselling; food; infant; interview; public health nursing.