Unveiling Sociocultural Factors Influencing Food Choices Among African American Mothers with Low Income and the Potential for Culturally Responsive Nutrition Education

OBJECTIVE: To explore the perspectives of African American mothers of low income regarding children's food and identify their culturally specific nutrition education needs to inform the design of nutrition education within a community-led, culturally responsive health promotion campaign countering the marketing of ultraprocessed foods to African American children. METHODS: A basic descriptive qualitative design with focus groups of African American mothers of low income (n = 33) with preschool-aged children enrolled in a Newark, NJ, Head Start. Zoom-based discussions were recorded, transcribed, and analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis. RESULTS: Three themes emerged: (1) mothers know that food and health are connected, (2) cultural foodways matter, and (3) mediators at every level of the Social Ecological Framework influence children's food choices. Differences by nativity revealed a distinct subset of food-related beliefs and practices between US-born mothers and their foreign-born counterparts. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: Personal, cultural, and environmental influences shape the early childhood feeding practices of African American mothers of low income. Differences within this population underscore the need for a culturally responsive campaign-grounded in sociocultural context and inclusive of both US and foreign-born families-to effectively support healthier eating in early childhood.