Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-dh8gc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-13T07:03:38.088Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

First 1000 days: New Zealand Mothers’ perceptions of early life nutrition resources

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 February 2021

Jillian Rae Hildreth ,
Mark H. Vickers Open the ORCID record for Mark H. Vickers [Opens in a new window] ,
Clare R. Wall  and
Jacquie L. Bay Open the ORCID record for Jacquie L. Bay [Opens in a new window]
Jillian Rae Hildreth
Affiliation:
Liggins Institute, University of Auckland, Private Bag 92019, Victoria Street West, Auckland1142, New Zealand
Mark H. Vickers
Affiliation:
Liggins Institute, University of Auckland, Private Bag 92019, Victoria Street West, Auckland1142, New Zealand
Clare R. Wall
Affiliation:
Discipline of Nutrition, School of Medical Sciences, Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, University of Auckland, Private Bag 92019, Victoria Street West, Auckland1142, New Zealand
Jacquie L. Bay*
Affiliation:
Liggins Institute, University of Auckland, Private Bag 92019, Victoria Street West, Auckland1142, New Zealand
*
Address for correspondence: Jacquie L. Bay, Liggins Institute, University of Auckland, Private Bag 92019, Victoria Street West, Auckland1142, New Zealand. Email: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Research into associations between early life nutritional exposures and vulnerability to adult non-communicable disease (NCD) highlights the importance of maternal diet. A booklet outlining evidence-based dietary guidelines for the first 1000 days of life was first published in 2016 by early life nutrition experts for distribution to pregnant women in Australia and New Zealand. First-time New Zealand mothers’ (n=9) perceptions of the booklet and its relevance for the future health of their child were explored via semi-structured focus groups and interviews. Recruitment took place via social media channels and antenatal classes around Auckland. Three major themes were identified using thematic analysis: 1. A difference in the ways mothers related to the booklet depending on their apparent level of health literacy and communication preferences; 2. A tendency for women to outsource decision-making to nutrition ‘rules’, rather than interpreting information to suit personal circumstances; 3. Intense pressure to comply, resulting in feelings of shame or guilt when the ‘rules’ were not followed. In this study, first-time mums expressed feeling under pressure to ‘get it right’ and identified a desire for more support from healthcare providers and society. Nutrition education is essential; however, a booklet should provide a starting point for conversation rather than a stand-alone list of recommendations. Further exploration is needed to develop a resource that can be used by health professionals working alongside women and their partners to support healthy child development.

Keywords

Nutrition educationhealth promotionpregnancyearly life nutritiondevelopmental originsfirst 1000 days
Type
Original Article
Information
Journal of Developmental Origins of Health and Disease , Volume 12 , Issue 6 , December 2021 , pp. 883 - 889
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press in association with International Society for Developmental Origins of Health and Disease

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

World Health Organization. Noncommunicable diseases (NCD) country profiles, 2014. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2014.Google Scholar
World Health Organization. Noncommunicable diseases (NCD) country profiles 2018. Geneva: World Health Organisation; 2018.Google Scholar
Tobias, M, Blakely, T, Matheson, D, Rasanathan, K, Atkinson, J. Changing trends in indigenous inequalities in mortality: lessons from New Zealand. Int J Epidemiol. 2009; 38(6), 1711–1722.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
NZ Ministry of Health. Annual Data Explorer 2017/18: New Zealand Health Survey. 2018.Google Scholar
Sjardin, N, Reed, P, Albert, B, et al. Increasing incidence of type 2 diabetes in New Zealand children <15 years of age in a regional-based diabetes service, Auckland, New Zealand. J Paediatr Child Health. 2018; 54(9), 1005–1010.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Heindel, JJ, Balbus, J, Birnbaum, L, et al. Developmental origins of health and disease: integrating environmental influences. Endocrinology. 2015; 156(10), 3416–3421.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hanson, M, Low, F, Gluckman, P. Epigenetic epidemiology: the rebirth of soft inheritance. Ann Nutr Metab. 2011; 58(Suppl. 2), 8–15.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Martorell, R. Improved nutrition in the first 1000 days and adult human capital and health. Am J Human Biol. 2017; 29(2), e22952. doi: 10.1002/ajhb.22952 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gluckman, P, Hanson, M, Beedle, A. Early life events and their consequences for later disease: a life history and evolutionary perspective. Am J Human Biol. 2007; 19(1), 1–19.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gormack, AA, Peek, JC, Derraik, JG, Gluckman, PD, Young, NL, Cutfield, WS. Many women undergoing fertility treatment make poor lifestyle choices that may affect treatment outcome. Hum Reprod. 2015; 30(7), 1617–1624.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wall, CR, Gammon, CS, Bandara, DK, Grant, CC, Atatoa Carr, PE, Morton, SMB. Dietary patterns in pregnancy in New Zealand—Influence of maternal socio-demographic, health and lifestyle factors. Nutrients. 2016; 8(5), 300. doi: 10.3390/nu8050300 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Morton, SM, Grant, CC, Wall, CR, et al. Adherence to nutritional guidelines in pregnancy: evidence from the Growing Up in New Zealand birth cohort study. Public Health Nutri. 2014; 17(9), 1919–1929.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bookari, K, Yeatman, H, Williamson, M. Exploring Australian women’s level of nutrition knowledge during pregnancy: a cross-sectional study. Int J Women’s Health. 2016; 8, 405–419.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Davies, PS, Funder, J, Palmer, DJ, et al. Early life nutrition and the opportunity to influence long-term health: an Australasian perspective. J Dev Orig Health Dis. 2016; 7(5), 440–448.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Szwajcer, EM, Hiddink, GJ, Koelen, MA, van Woerkum, CM. Nutrition-Related information-seeking behaviours before and throughout the course of pregnancy: consequences for nutrition communication. Eur J Clin Nutri. 2005; 59(Suppl. 1), S57–S65.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Nasuti, G, Blanchard, C, Naylor, PJ, et al. Comparison of the dietary intakes of new parents, second-time parents, and nonparents: a longitudinal cohort study. J Acad Nutr Diet. 2014; 114(3), 450–456.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Braun, V, Clarke, V. Successful Qualitative Research: A Practical Guide for Beginners, 2013. Sage, Los Angeles, CA.Google Scholar
Terry, G, Hayfield, N, Clarke, V, Braun, V. The SAGE Handbook of Qualitative Research in Psychology (eds. Willig, C, Rogers, W), 2017; pp. 17–36. SAGE Publications Ltd, London.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Copelton, DA. “You are what you eat”: Nutritional norms, maternal deviance, and neutralization of women’s prenatal diets. Deviant Behav. 2007; 28(5), 467–494.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Renkert, S, Nutbeam, D. Opportunities to improve maternal health literacy through antenatal education: an exploratory study. Health Promot Int. 2001; 16(4), 381–388.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sorensen, K, Van den Broucke, S, Fullam, J, et al. Health literacy and public health: a systematic review and integration of definitions and models. BMC Public Health. 2012; 12, 80.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lewallen, LP. Healthy behaviors and sources of health information among low-income pregnant women. Public Health Nursing. 2004; 21(3), 200–206.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kroth, M, Cranton, P. Stories of Transformative Learning (ed. Mayo, P), 2014. Sense Publishers, Netherlands.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ingold, T. From the transmission of representations to the education of attention. The debated mind: Evolutionary psychology versus ethnography. 2001, pp. 113–153.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lupton, D. ‘The best thing for the baby’: Mothers’ concepts and experiences related to promoting their infants’ health and development. Health Risk Soc. 2011; 13(7–8), 637–651.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gregg, R. “Choice” as a double-edged sword: information, guilt and mother-blaming in a high-tech age. Women Health. 1993; 20(3), 53–73.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wennberg, AL, Lundqvist, A, Hogberg, U, Sandstrom, H, Hamberg, K. Women’s experiences of dietary advice and dietary changes during pregnancy. Midwifery. 2013; 29(9), 1027–1034.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Harper, EA, Rail, G. ‘Gaining the right amount for my baby’: young pregnant women’s discursive constructions of health. Health Sociol Rev. 2012; 21(1), 69–81.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dodds, A, Chamberlain, K. The problematic messages of nutritional discourse: a case-based critical media analysis. Appetite. 2017; 108, 42–50.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
House, E, Coveney, J. ‘I mean I expect that it’s pretty safe’: perceptions of food trust in pregnancy - implications for primary health care practice. Aust Med J. 2013; 6(7), 358–366.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Paterson, H, Hay-Smith, EJ, Treharne, G. Women’s experiences of changes in eating during pregnancy: a qualitative study in Dunedin, New Zealand. New Zealand College of Midwives J. 2016; 52, 5–11.Google Scholar
Rosenfeld, CS. Homage to the ‘H’ in developmental origins of health and disease. J Dev Orig Health Dis. 2017; 8(1), 8–29.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jette, S, Rail, G. Resisting, reproducing, resigned? Low-income pregnant women’s discursive constructions and experiences of health and weight gain. Nurs Inq. 2014; 21(3), 202–211.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bianchi, CM, Huneau, JF, Le Goff, G, Verger, EO, Mariotti, F, Gurviez, P. Concerns, attitudes, beliefs and information seeking practices with respect to nutrition-related issues: a qualitative study in French pregnant women. BMC Pregnancy Childbirth. 2016; 16(1), 306.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Augustine, RA, Ladyman, SR, Grattan, DR. From feeding one to feeding many: hormone-induced changes in bodyweight homeostasis during pregnancy. J Physiol. 2008; 586(2), 387–397.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Crozier, SR, Inskip, HM, Godfrey, KM, Cooper, C, Robinson, SM, SWS Study Group. Nausea and vomiting in early pregnancy: effects on food intake and diet quality. Matern Child Nutr. 2017; 13(4), e12389. doi: 10.1111/mcn.12389 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Marshall, JL, Godfrey, M, Renfrew, MJ. Being a ‘good mother’: Managing breastfeeding and merging identities. Soc Sci Med. 2007; 65(10), 2147–2159.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lee, EJ. Living with risk in the age of ‘intensive motherhood’: Maternal identity and infant feeding. Health Risk Soc. 2008; 10(5), 467–477.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ahluwalia, IB, Morrow, B, Hsia, J. Why do women stop breastfeeding? Findings from the pregnancy risk assessment and monitoring system. Pediatrics. 2005; 116(6), 1408–1412.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Tu’akoi, S, Tamarua-Herman, N, Tairea, K, Vickers, MH, Aung, YYM, Bay, JL. Supporting Cook Island communities to access DOHaD evidence. J Dev Orig Health Dis. 2020; 11(6), 564–572.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed