Holme et al., J Women’s Health Care 2014, 3:2 DOI: 10.4172/2167-0420.1000146 Volume 3 • Issue 2 • 1000146 J Women’s Health Care ISSN: 2167-0420 JWHC, an open access journal Open Access Review Article Attitudes and Motivations for Healthy Eating Among Pregnant Women of Different Ethnic Backgrounds Following Antenatal Care in Oslo, Norway Lisa Garnweidner-Holme*, Laura Terragni, Kjell Sverre Pettersen and Annhild Mosdøl Department of Health, Nutrition and Management, Akershus University College of Applied Sciences, Oslo, Norway Abstract Background: Rising proportions of women enter their pregnancies as overweight or gain weight excessively, increasing their risk of diet-related diseases such as gestational diabetes and preeclampsia. A good understanding of pregnant women’s attitudes and motivations toward healthy eating is essential for effective nutrition communication in antenatal care. However, only few studies have investigated attitudes and motivations toward healthy eating during and after pregnancy, and little is known about women of different ethnic backgrounds. Objectives: To explore attitudes toward and motivations for healthy eating by pregnant women of different ethnic backgrounds. Methods: Individual interviews with 16 women were conducted twice during pregnancy and once three months postpartum. Ethnic Norwegian women (n=5), and women born in different African, Asian and South East European countries (n=11) participated in the study. An interpretative phenomenological approach inspired data collection and analysis. Findings were interpreted and discussed in relation to the Self-determination theory (SDT). Results: Attitudes toward healthy eating changed due to pregnancy, but not all of the participants became more concerned about healthy eating. Three patterns were observed: pregnancy as a turn to healthier eating, also after given birth; healthy eating only during the pregnancy; and pregnancy as a ‘time-off’ from healthy eating. All three groups had both ethnic Norwegian women and women with immigrant backgrounds represented. Participants’ attitudes could be interpreted as having motivations with different degrees of self-autonomy. Conclusions: Women seem to have heterogeneous patterns of change in attitudes and motivations toward healthy eating during and after their pregnancies. Tailored nutrition communication should assess and take into account women’s attitudes and motivations toward healthy eating and the extent to which these motivations are autonomously regulated. *Corresponding authors: Lisa Garnweidner-Holme, Department of Health, Nutrition and Management, Akershus University College of Applied Sciences, Oslo, Norway, Tel: 47 480 91 956; E-mail: lisa.garnweidner@hioa.no Received November 20, 2013; Accepted February 18, 2014; Published February 24, 2014 Citation: Holme LG, Terragni L, Pettersen KS, Mosdøl A (2014) Attitudes and Motivations for Healthy Eating Among Pregnant Women of Different Ethnic Backgrounds Following Antenatal Care in Oslo, Norway. J Women’s Health Care 3: 146. doi:10.4172/2167-0420.1000146 Copyright: © 2014 Holme LG, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Keywords: Pregnancy; Pregnant women; Over weight Introduction Te rise in the proportion of fertile women with an unfavorable weight creates new public health challenges. High maternal weight and excessive gestational weight gain may infuence the ofspring’s future risk of being overweight and developing diet-related chronic diseases [1,2]. Some ethnic minority groups have been found to be disproportionally afected by being overweight and diet-related diseases, like Gestational Diabetes Mellitus (GDM) [3-5]. Overweight and diet-related chronic diseases are largely preventable through a healthy diet, physical activity and weight management. Pregnant women may be easy to reach with nutrition- related information [6]. Te repeated sessions of routine antenatal care may ofer a unique opportunity to promote of a healthy diet. However, studies indicate that pregnant women may change their attitudes toward healthy eating only temporarily and that they return to pre- pregnancy patterns afer giving birth [7-15]. Previous research in health and nutrition communication indicates that it might be challenging for health professionals to efectively communicate about changing dietary practices and weight management, especially in multi-ethnic populations [16-18]. A particular challenge may be to communicate in a way to support long- term behavioral change [19]. Successful nutrition communication for behavioral change implies an understanding of individuals’ attitudes and motivations [20]. Attitudes may be defned as a person’s overall positive or negative evaluation of the target behavior, whereas motivation may be defned as the psychological energy directed at a particular behavior goal [21,22]. Ethnic background, education and social class, and, for immigrants, the level of acculturation may infuence attitudes and motivations toward health behaviors [23,24]. Most behavior change theories in health and nutrition communication value the importance of attitudes and motivations toward a specifc health behavior [19]. Te Self-Determination Teory (SDT) may be a valuable perspective when investigating women’s attitudes and motivations toward healthy eating during pregnancy [12]. It acknowledges that people not only have diferent amounts of motivation, but also diferent types and orientations of motivations toward a specifc behavior. Tese orientations of motivation concern people’s underlying attitudes that give rise to behavior change [25]. Te SDT particularly distinguishes between whether a motivation is autonomous or controlled. Autonomously motivated behaviors are rooted in conscious choices and personal relevance, whereas controlled behaviors are pressured by external forces, such as a person’s social environment. Studies focusing on attitudes and motivation toward healthy eating J o u r n a l o f W o m e n s H e a l t h C a r e ISSN: 2167-0420 Journal of Women's Health Care