Perceptions on Healthy Eating Impact the Home Food Environment: A Qualitative Exploration of Perceptions of Indigenous Food Gatekeepers in Urban Fiji

Abstract

The home food environment (HFE) can have important direct and indirect impacts on dietary practices. Nutrient transitions in the HFE of Pacific Island countries (PICs) are key contributors of the high rates of adult and childhood overweight and obesity in the region. Pacifica mothers are important sociocultural agents who play critical roles in their HFE through setting eating-appropriateness standards and mitigating the impacts of food availability and accessibility on the HFE. This study used an interpretative phenomenological approach to explore how urban indigenous Fijian mothers perceive healthy eating and how these perceptions impacted the food decisions they made for their families. Mothers in this study held complex, multifaceted perceptions on healthy eating and these perceptions had both positive and negative impacts on the family food choices they made, the strategies they adopted for healthy eating and their perceived motivators for healthy eating. The findings of this study underscore the need for a deeper understanding and analysis of uptake of public health messaging related to healthy and unhealthy eating and the importance of targeted promotion of healthful nutrition in this community. Promoting consumption of traditional and locally grown foods can enhance nutrition and food security and combat nutrition transition in the region.