RESEARCH Perspectives in Practice Food Choices of Young African-American and Latino Adolescents: Where Do Parents Fit In? MAUREEN O’DOUGHERTY, PhD; MARY STORY, PhD, RD; LESLIE LYTLE, PhD, RD ABSTRACT To gain insight into parents’ perceptions of the food pref- erences of their young adolescents, and their negotiating and decision-making strategies around food purchasing and meals, four focus groups were held with 32 African- American parents and three focus groups with 14 Span- ish-dominant, first-generation immigrant Latina moth- ers. Most participants were of low socioeconomic status and were single parents. Many African-American parents emphasized children’s growing appetites and preferences for fast food. Many reported making weekday dinner de- cisions jointly with the child or allowing the child to eat a lunch-like alternative, and allowing serve-yourself meals on weekends. A few prepared traditional ethnic foods. Latina parents reported that their children liked ethnic foods and fast/junk foods. They emphasized buying foods their children wanted, making no eating restrictions, and preparing traditional ethnic dinners without alterna- tives. African-American and Latina parents displayed concern over whether to place restrictions on young ado- lescents’ eating. Further research is needed on the ways in which socioeconomic inequalities compound barriers to healthful eating, with particular attention to low income and immigrant populations. J Am Diet Assoc. 2006;106:1846-1850. D uring the past 2 decades, obesity rates have doubled among children and tripled among adolescents (1,2). Research has shown that the quality of school- aged children’s diets declines over time (3), and that early adolescence is a crucial period for the development of overweight (4). Although children become increasingly oriented to the broader environment as they grow up, the home environment remains a central context for chil- dren’s dietary practices, and parental influence remains crucial. Parents ultimately determine home food avail- ability and accessibility (5,6), set the norms for family eating (7-9), model food choices (10,11), can encourage or restrain children’s eating practices (12), and can acqui- esce to or guide children’s food choices (13,14). National data have found higher rates of overweight and obesity in Latino and African-American children compared with non-Hispanic white children (1,2,15). These ethnic and racial disparities may reflect lower physical activity levels (16) and poorer diets and eating practices (3,6,17). Where do parents fit into this picture? The 1998 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth found that white parents of children aged 3 to 6 years reported offering more food choices and doing less monitoring of food intake than African-American and Latino parents (18). Robinson and colleagues (19) found that overweight parents of 8- to 9-year-olds from a multiethnic sample were less controlling than nonoverweight parents. Qual- itative studies suggest that African-American and Latino parents may have a higher threshold for identifying a child as overweight than medical standards or believe it is a phase youth outgrow (20). They may be more accom- modating of children’s preferences than whites (20-22). However, it is not clear to what extent these perceptions and practices may vary across children’s age levels. Nor is it clear what variations exist within racial and ethnic groups, according to socioeconomic status, or immigrant vs nonimmigrant status. The purpose of this research was to gain insight into racially and ethnically diverse parents’ perceptions of the food preferences of their young adolescents, to identify parents’ negotiating and decision-making strategies over food purchasing and meals, and to gauge their sense of efficacy in guiding children’s dietary intake and practices. METHODS Sample Our goal was to recruit 50 parents/guardians of children aged 11 to 15 years from a public middle school in the Minneapolis–St Paul, MN, region with 70% students of color, including African-American and Latino students. Participants were recruited through a flier sent home with students and followed up by telephone calls placed by volunteers at the school’s parent involvement center. Eligible participants were parents or guardians who lived with a child aged 11 to 15 years at least 50% of the time and who did the family’s grocery shopping at least 50% of the time. Prospective participants were informed that the study would involve attending a focus group discussion at the school and filling out a brief survey. The school re- ceived a $150 incentive designated for the parent involve- M. O’Dougherty is a research associate, Department of Food Science and Nutrition, M. Story is a professor, and L. Lytle is a professor, Division of Epidemiology and Community Health, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis. Address correspondence to: Maureen O’Dougherty, PhD, Research Associate, Department of Food Science and Nutrition, University of Minnesota, 1334 Eckles Ave, St Paul, MN 55108. E-mail: modoughe@umn.edu Copyright © 2006 by the American Dietetic Association. 0002-8223/06/10611-0013$32.00/0 doi: 10.1016/j.jada.2006.08.011 1846 Journal of the AMERICAN DIETETIC ASSOCIATION © 2006 by the American Dietetic Association