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obesity Research
Open Journal http://dx.doi.org/10.17140/OROJ-2-114
Obes Res Open J
ISSN 2377-8385
Challenges of Healthy Eating Habits in
Rural Communities
Godwin-Charles Ogbeide1*, Jennifer Henk2, Dylan C. Martinez3 and Mary Bassett2
1Honors Program Faculty Committee Representative, Human Nutrition and Hospitality
Innovation, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, USA
2Human Development and Family Sciences, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, USA
3Human Nutrition and Hospitality Innovation, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, USA
*Corresponding author:
Godwin-Charles Ogbeide, MBA, PhD
Honors Program Faculty Committee
Representative
Human Nutrition and Hospitality
Innovations Program
1 University of Arkansas
HOEC 17B, Fayetteville
AR 72701, USA
Tel. 479-575-2579
Fax: 479-575-7171
E-mail: gogbeide@uark.edu
Article History:
Received: September 24th, 2015
Accepted: October 20th, 2015
Published: October 20th, 2015
Citation:
Ogbeide G-C, Henk J, Martinez DC,
Bassett M. Challenges of Healthy
Eating Habits in Rural Communities.
Obes Res Open J. 2015; 2(3): 89-97.
Copyright:
© 2015 Ogbeide G-C. This is an
open access article distributed
under the Creative Commons At-
tribution License, which permits
unrestricted use, distribution and
reproduction in any medium, pro-
vided the original work is properly
cited.
Volume 2 : Issue 3
Article Ref. #: 1000OROJ2114
Research
Page 89
ABSTRACT
The purpose of this study is to utilize multiple case study to investigate the challenges
of healthy eating habits in rural communities in Arkansas, and to identify the differences be-
tween these communities (Community A and B) that could be associated with overweight and
obese children. The ndings suggested that healthy eating habits required a conscientious effort
on the part of the parents and/or guardians in urging the children to eat healthy. Parents and/
or guardians also needed to show good examples of healthy eating behaviors at home. In ad-
dition, community leaders should be thinking of some modalities to enhance the food choices
or provide healthier choices in their community events and support underprivileged families to
help secure healthy food choices. This study also highlighted the importance of food corps and
health coalition group in the curtailment of overweight and obese children in rural communi-
ties.
KEYWORDS: Healthy eating; Overweight; Parenting; Obese; Eating habits.
ABBREVIATIONS: BMI: Body Mass Index; TPB: Theory of Planned Behavior; PBC: Perceived
Behavior Control.
INTRODUCTION
Having balanced nutritional habits early in life has shown to be exponentially ben-
ecial to health later in one’s life.1 Encouraging healthy eating habits at an early age has also
shown to aid in preventing the onset of diet-related diseases and complications in the future.2
Healthy eating has been dened as consumption patterns, practices, and behaviors that are con-
sistent with improving, maintaining, and/or enhancing health.1 New foods are often approached
with a mixture of interests and fear.3 Research has shown that children who start trying new
foods and have plentiful options to choose from at an early age appear to have healthier diets
throughout childhood.4 Exposure to new foods at an early age as well as positive reinforcement
from a parental gure or valued opinion has shown to aid in children and adolescents to be
more involved in healthy eating behaviors.4
The implications of unhealthy eating habits cannot be overemphasized. It was noted
that people with easy access to energy dense, inexpensive foods (unhealthy food choices) com-
bined with less energy expenditure (physical activity) requirements in their daily life tended to
show a higher rate of obesity.5 The obesity epidemic has increased rapidly over the past three
decades in both children and adults.5-9 The rampant occurrence of weight related disorders in
children, such as type 2 diabetes and hypertension, are believed to be a consequence of the ever
growing obesity outbreak.5,6 Childhood Body Mass Index (BMI) is related to an increased risk
of various cardiovascular diseases in adulthood.5 Previous generations used to believe that a
chubby child was equivalent to a healthier child; but, within the past decade in developed na-
obesity Research
Open Journal http://dx.doi.org/10.17140/OROJ-2-114
Obes Res Open J
ISSN 2377-8385
Page 90
tions, excessive fatness has debatably transitioned into primary
childhood health problems.6
The effect of television viewing is thought to buttress,
weight gain, not only by eliminating physical activity, but also
by increasing energy intake, as previous research has shown
children tended to consume excess amounts of energy dense
foods during the television watching process and exposure to
commercials.6,10-12
In 2003, the State of Arkansas passed one of the rst
legislative initiatives to combat childhood obesity, Arkansas Act
1220.7,8,13,14 The Act set into motion annual BMI measurements
for children in public schools in grades K-12, the elimination
of student access to vending machines during the school day in
elementary schools and public reporting of vending contracts,
hiring of Community Health Promotion Specialists to work with
schools and communities, development of a statewide Child
Health Advisory Committee and a physical activity advisory
committees pertaining to the use of scientic evidence in regard
to physical activity and nutritional regulations for schools.7,13
Several amendments were added to this Act following its re-
lease, such as condentiality changes. Originally student’s BMI
scores would be on the student’s report cards, but this was soon
changed to allow for more privacy and reduce any animosity or
embarrassment that might develop amongst the students. Parents
were mailed separate copies of the reports without the student
learning any of the results post testing. A statewide BMI data-
base was also developed following this change.7,13,14 The annual
reports on BMI succeeded in raising awareness of overweight
or obese children and even recommended changes that could be
made within the household. They also suggested families follow
up with their health care providers for more detailed assessments
since BMI was simply a screening tool.7 However, the incident
of childhood obesity in the state is still very high.7 Indicating
that Act 1220 will not be effective without healthy eating habits
and lifestyles. Hence, the purpose of this study is to investigate
the challenges of healthy eating habits in rural communities in
Arkansas.
Prevention of childhood obesity has many aspects
ranging from individual, family, institutional, community and
health care settings.5 There exists little evidence in regards to
the most effective way to prevent the development of childhood
obesity.5,6 Various periods exist during childhood where both
challenges and windows for opportunity exist to help prevent
obesity. These periods include the rst year of life and the period
of “adiposity rebound”, ages 3-7 years old.5 (p. 5) For children a
large portion of learning about food and eating occurs during
the move from an exclusively milk diet as an infant to the om-
nivore diet consumed in their early childhood.15 Caregivers and
families would be great in identifying a child’s energy intake
and potential healthy eating habits and lifestyle. In addition, in-
stitutional facilities and community-level prevention methods
could include prospective areas to increase knowledge of nutri-
tion (healthy eating habit) and obesity, along with campaigns
and advertisements to combat the obesity epidemic.5
Theory of Planned Behavior
The theoretical basis for this study is the theory of
planned behavior which denotes that individuals are more likely
to carry out a specic behavior when a signicant gure in that
individual’s life thinks he or she should or should not implement
the behavior.16-18 The Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) is a
widely used psychological model that reveals the facets inu-
encing behavior. The TPB suggests that the mightiest predictor
of any person’s behavior is his or her own intention to perform
the behavior. Behavior or intention is the result of three primary
qualications: attitudes, subjective norms, and Perceived Be-
havior Control (PBC).17 Attitude is often denoted by each in-
dividual’s assessment of the behavior in question.18 Subjective
norms tend to portray each individual’s opinion regarding the
people who are signicant gures in their life and what they
think about the individual’s implementing or not implementing
the behavior.16 PBC denotes each individual’s capacity to ex-
ecute a behavior. Barriers that potentially prevent an individual
from carrying out a behavior are also suggested.17
TPB is a well-studied and respected theory for illumi-
nating and forecasting behavior. Multiple studies have applied
this theory to a widespread assortment of health perspectives,
including food and beverage consumption behaviors.18-23 Even
though there exists various denitions and measures of food and
beverage consumption, as mentioned in these studies, there also
exists an unadulterated idea that TPB is an excellent predicator
of a range of measures of food and beverage consumption be-
havior for various populaces. TPB dictates that individuals have
a higher chance to perform a specic health behavior if three re-
quirements are met: they trust that the new behavior will lead to
particular outcomes that they value, if they think that individu-
als whose opinions they value think they should implement the
behavior, and if they believe that they have the necessary means
and chances to accomplish the behavior.22 This theory has been
applied multiple times in an attempt to understand various food
and beverage consumption behavior intentions among young
people.24-28
It has been shown that parental food preferences, in-
take patterns, and eating behaviors inuence the foods available
to young children. Also, parents tend to serve as role models
for children’s behavior, which in turn affects early learning in
regard to food preferences and eating behaviors in children.27,29
Similarly, researchers have taken note of the effects of observa-
tional learning on children and have shown that observational
learning affects children’s intake.27,30 Observing others consum-
ing healthier foods can aid in promoting children’s acceptance
of healthier food options. As such, parents need to ensure that
they are not merely instructing their children that they need to
eat healthy.30 They also must be demonstrating healthy eating
obesity Research
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ISSN 2377-8385
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habits in order for their children to learn and reinforce this be-
havior. When it comes to risk taking behaviors children were
more prone to mimic parents behaviors , more so than what their
parents tell them.30 Which goes against the well-known saying,
“Do as I say, not as I do”.31 (p. 502) Researchers have conclud-
ed that behavioral changes related to health and interventions
have regularly found greater effects for theory-based interven-
tions compared to those without a comprehensive theoretical
basis.32-34 Children look to their parents and caregivers to help
encourage, support, and enable them to practice healthier eating
habits.25 The notion of self-identity also has been advanced as a
possible predictor of behavior.35 Research indicated that people
who considered themselves to be “green customers” had stron-
ger intentions to consume organic vegetables than those who did
not consider themselves green.36 (p. 394)
TPB can be quite benecial for phases of intervention
development, application, and assessment. Given the demon-
strated helpfulness of the TPB in understanding an extensive
variety of health associated factors, including food and beverage
consumption behaviors, this theory was selected as the founda-
tional standard for understanding this case study.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
The objectives of this case study were as follows: (a)
to examine how children develop interest in what they eat; (b)
to examine how children develop interest in healthy eating; (c)
to examine what healthy foods community members/parents
would add to children’s meals; (d) to examine what foods they
would remove fro m children’s meals; and (e) to examine the
barriers to healthy eating.
Case study research was selected due to the need to
accumulate thorough data on the obesity epidemic that was
occurring in rural communities in Arkansas.37,38 Case study ap-
proaches were particularly advantageous for this study due to
the exploratory nature and depth of understanding that could be
achieved.39 A multiple-case study approach allowed for a more
direct comparison and exploration o f differences of the chal-
lenges and intervention strategies in the various considered con-
texts.38,40 It also served to provide more generic conclusions to be
formulated.41 Since comparisons were to be formulated, it was
crucial that the cases were chosen methodically so that similar or
contrasting results could be predicted across both cases , based
on a theory.38
Case study research also allowed for the opportunity to
check for validity of the interviewee’s replies due to the nature
of the personal communication and of experienced interviewers.
Table 1 provides an overview of the measures, which were con-
ducted during each stage of the current research to address the
concerns regarding validity and reliability.
Reliability
and
Validity
Criterion
Research Phase
Design Case
Selection
Data
Gathering Data Analysis
Reliability:
denotes the op-
erations of a study
can be repeated
with the same
results
Develop and utilize
case study inter-
view questionnaire
Purposive
sampling
Interview
questionnaire
prompted to all
interviewees
Conducted cod-
ing checks for
interrater
reliability
Internal Validity:
creates a causal
relationship
whereby certain
conditions are
shown to lead to
other conditions,
as denoted by
false relationships
Theoretical frame-
work established
prior to data
analysis
Sampling
criteria
recorded in
a case study
protocol
Various factors
that potentially
serve as alterna-
tive explanations
were recorded
Pattern matching
Construct
Validity:
creates proper
operational mea-
sures for the
concepts being
researched
Constructs from
previous empirical
works adapted to
the eld of child-
hood obesity
N/A
Expert
interviews were
used
Triangulation
of multiple data
sources
The draft case
study report was
reviewed by key
informants
External
Validity:
creates a domain
in which the re-
searches’ ndings
can be general-
ized
Sampling within
rural communities
with high and low
prevalence of
childhood obesity
N/A Multiple forms
used
Multiple analysis
between 4 four
researchers
Table 1: Measures taken to ensure the validity and reliability of the research conducted (based on reference.38,44)
obesity Research
Open Journal http://dx.doi.org/10.17140/OROJ-2-114
Obes Res Open J
ISSN 2377-8385
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Case Selection
Two rural counties (communities) in Northwest Arkan-
sas were selected. Each community was purposefully selected
and had either a high or low prevalence of obesity in order to
allow for exp loration of causes and interventions. State BM I
and census data was analyzed to aid in selection of rural com-
munities.
Data Collection: The fundamental data collection method used
was structured interviews with an open ended interview proto-
col.42 This allowed for those being interviewed to openly express
their comments without being limited to select answer choices.
Thus, detailed and in-depth data and perceptions were gath-
ered from the community members. In addition, the community
members who participated in the study were all presented with a
consent form in regard to ethical clearance (Institutional Review
Board document) about the study prior to data collection.
A purposive sampling approach was employed to gar-
ner participants. This approach ensured a practical structure for
the discussion sequence and facilitated the comparison of the
groups in the data analysis.38 All structured interviews were re-
corded and transcribed by the researchers.
Structured interviews were held at three (3) separate
times and locations between the two (2) rural communities dur-
ing the rst week of June 2015. A total of 16 participants were
interviewed in order to exp lore healthy eating habits, activities,
and their relationship between overweight or obese children in
both communities. Structured interviews lasted anywhere from
60-90 minutes with an average of 73 minutes. Interviews were
conducted with highly ranked individuals within the community,
ranging from the mayor, nurses, principals, and childcare center
directors. Many teachers, parents, and cafeteria cooks were also
interviewed. The interviews were conducted by two experienced
case study researchers.
Detailed notes were taken during the interviews and
additional material, stemming fro m census data and BMI data,
were used for triangulation. Overall, an in-depth case study pro-
tocol and a structured interview guide led the current research.
Data Analysis: Data analysis began with coding of the infor-
mation gathered from the available sources, which provided a
general structure. A frequentative process was implemented to
identify key words, phrases, and categories. After the cases had
been coded by the interviewers, three scholars examined the data
following a systematic and supportable approach described by
Krueger & Case.43 Researchers reviewed the questions prompted
by the interviewers along with the transcripts, concentrating on
one question at a time while considering the overall purpose of
the research.
The rural communities were coded as “Community
A” and “Community B”. While analyzing the responses, pri-
ority consideration was given to words used and the meaning
of the words, the context and specicity of responses. Themes
were identied by frequency of repeated phrases and key words.
Common themes such as “parental example and time (lack of)”
were rampant throughout the transcriptions. Tables were then
developed for each objective in order to examine the difference
between the common themes in the 2 two communities.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
This section presents the case study ndings and dis-
cussions on how children develop an interest in what they eat,
how they make healthy eating food choices, what are unhealthy
food examples, what are the barriers to healthy eating, and the
differences between these communities based on the responses
from the participants in this study.
The participants in this study indicated numerous fac-
tors associated with how children developed an interest in what
they ate (see Table 2). One of the participants stated: “Our kids
like nger foods, they like it more if it’s something they can pick
up.” Another participant indicated stated that: “…color is a big
thing for him (referring to her child) if he can pick out colors and
sometimes if its little things he can count he will sit there and
start eating....” Overall, however, the researchers noticed that
the participants generally agreed that children were interested
in consuming foods that were appealing and what children often
saw advertised on television or what they saw in their environ-
ment (e.g., fast food and parental examples at homes). In addi-
tion, it was generally agreed that parents should encourage their
children to eat healthy and provide better food choices.
When the participants were asked about the healthy
food choices they would like to add to their children’s meals,
they generally agreed on fruits, vegetables, submarine sand-
wiches, and organic foods (see Table 3). The participants in
these rural communities clearly indicated that they were aware
of healthy food choices. Consequentially, they were asked if
there were any foods they would remove from meals? The an-
swers were not too surprising. The participants generally agreed
to remove starchy carbohydrate, sugary treats, junk foods, and
processed foods (see Table 3). Even though their responses were
1 Finger foods
2 Colorful food
3 Following parent’s example
4 Little countable food
5Food that looks fun and
appealing
6Encouraging/urging better
food choices
7Encouraging/urging better
eating habits
8Encouraging/urging better
eating habits
Table 2: Children’s interest in what they eat.
obesity Research
Open Journal http://dx.doi.org/10.17140/OROJ-2-114
Obes Res Open J
ISSN 2377-8385
Page 93
not surprising, it was interesting to know that these communities
had a notion or understanding of healthy food choices. However,
their communities were still plagued with the consumption of
foods they believed to be unhealthy for their children.
When the participants were asked about how children
developed an interest in healthy eating, they generally agreed on
starting children eating healthy at a young age through access to
healthy food, encouraging/urging children to eat healthy, expo-
sure to healthy food, and parents setting good examples by eat-
ing healthy (see Table 4). Even though the participants believed
that parents should urge their children to eat heathy, some of
the participants indicated that it was not easy to accomplish this
particular objective. One of the participants stated: “My husband
will bring home the candy bars, the cookies and the sodas and
I’m like hide it from the four-year olds because they will want
it….” This was a challenging issue for many people in various
communities. It was not easy for the parents, school, or daycare
authorities to tell them to eat healthy while what the children
saw advertised on television, practiced at home, or displayed in
their environment was encouraging them to eat and drink in a
way contrary to healthy eating habits.
Bearing the above in mind, it was obvious that these
communities had a good knowledge of what heathy and un-
healthy foods were and how to help children develop an interest
in healthy eating habits. However, based on the results of the
interviews, it was clear that some members of these communi-
ties were still faced with the challenges of healthy food con-
sumption. For example, one of the participants stated: “I should
remove fried foods, but they just taste too good, I don’t know if
I want to.” When the participants were asked about the barriers
to healthy eating, they generally agreed that there were different
barriers associated with different communities and community
members due to a variation in the socioeconomic conditions of
the families in these communities. Some of the generally ac-
cepted responses in regard to barriers to healthy eating includ-
ed: 1) lack of income for healthy eating, 2) lack of educational
inspiration for healthy eating, 3) unaware of the importance of
healthy eating, 4) unhealthy stuff is cheaper, 5) healthy eating
is expensive, 6) more exposure to unhealthy alternatives, (e.g.,
advertising and fast food places), 7) too busy (no time) to eat
right, 8) not home to cook or too tired, 9) too many commit-
ments. Hence, going for convenience (i.e., fast food) was a big
motivator for unhealthy eating (see Table 5). It was interesting to
learn that it was very challenging to inspire some of the commu-
nity members to attend free healthy eating education seminars in
their communities. One of the participants stated: “It seems like
everywhere, you have trouble getting people to come for educa-
tion. You know we had trouble with people coming to schools,
we’ve offered things in the community. I think...you can offer all
the classes you want but it’s hard to get them to read a pamphlet,
come to a class, or a demonstration. I think we would all be rich
and famous if we knew how to get them all to come, we could go
on the road and market that.”
The frustration of this participant was very clear in the
participant’s comment. This particular factor showed that even
though the communities were offering incentives for healthy
eating education, the incentives were not enough to motivate
some members of these communities to attend free healthy eat-
ing education seminars.
The results of this study also suggested that parents
and/or guardians in these communities seemed too busy to cre-
ate time for healthy eating habits. One of the participants stated:
“A lot of parents have 2-3 kids who have ball games so they pick
them up after work and fast food is all they have. My brother
has 3 kids and all 3 play ball they’re never home till 10 p.m.
and they’ll stop wherever they’re at or what town their playing
in. It’s just fast paced they’re not home to cook or they’re too
tired when they get home.” Another participant indicated that:
“…convenience is big, we live in a fast paced society where we
need convenience...they eat out 3/4th (75%) the time because
Healthy Food Choices Unhealthy Food Choices
1 Fruits and vegetables Federal level that needs to
be changed
2 Sub Sandwiches (e.g., Subway) Starchy carbohydrate
3 Potatoes and corn Sugary treats (e.g., cookies
or candies.
4 Fresh salad Junk food (e.g., fast food
and fried foods)
5 Organic foods Bacon
6 Vegetables Processed foods
Table 3: Healthy food choices for children.
Table 4: Children interest in healthy eating.
1 Access to healthy food
2 Modeling after parents healthy choices
3 Exposure to healthy food
4 Encouraging/urging children to eat healthy
5 They have to see you eat it
6 Hide it (unhealthy food) from the four year olds
7 Starting them young
8 Parents setting a good example
Table 5: Barriers to healthy eating.
1 Lack of income for heathy eating
2 Lack of educational inspiration toward healthy eating
3 Not aware of the importance of healthy eating
4 Unhealthy stuff was cheaper
5 Healthy eating was expensive
6A lot of exposure to unhealthy alternatives (advertis-
ing, television, and fast food places)
7 Too busy (no time) to eat right
8 Not home to cook or too tired
9 A lot of commitments
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they’re coming home from a ball game or something.” This
particular issue seemed to be one of the most challenging ob-
stacles to healthy eating habits in these communities. It was not
farfetched to assume that families in rural communities should
have more time to cook and eat together because they were not
overwhelmed with the hassles and bustles of big cities. Unfortu-
nately, the result of this study was contrary to these perceptions.
The ndings indicated that in an attempt for the community
members to nd fun activities or entertainments, the community
members attended activities that exposed their children to un-
healthy eating habits. One of the participants stated: “Sometimes
it’s hard to serve dinner with a lot of commitments going on. Very
busy in the evenings and people eating on the go.” Similarly,
another participant afrmed this barrier by stating that: “I think
that as much as anything has done it, because everyone is going
different directions. I admire the family that takes the time to sit
down with their children and eat and talk. You’ll see that devel-
opment later in life with the children, because they will indeed
grasp that too.”
Despite the impact of different commitments that led
many community members to eat junk food (e.g., fast food and
fried foods), the participants in this study also agreed that lack
of adequate income was another major barrier to healthy eating
habits. One of the participants stated: “Cheap foods...bad foods
are really cheap foods so if you’re on a limited budget like a lot
of families in this community are, then you are purchasing (bad
foods)...because it’s cheaper.” The participants generally agreed
that even though they were aware of the importance of fruits and
vegetables toward healthy eating habits, fruits and vegetables
(especially the fruits) were very expensive.
Differences between Communities A and B
Some of the differences between Community A and
B are shown in Table 6. A noteworthy difference was the per-
centage of overweight and obese children in both communities.
The ndings indicated that Community B children were more
overweight and obese. The researchers were very interested in
knowing why there were a large gap in the rate of overweight
and obese children in these communities. The demographic pro-
les of both communities were very similar except in regard to
the “per capital income” and “White alone” population, which
were higher in Community A. In addition, Community A had
active Food Corps and Health Coalition groups that focused on
promoting healthy eating habits in the community. Another ma-
jor difference between these communities was that Community
B had a higher rate of “Hispanic” population. These differenc-
es seemed to be the major factors associated with Community
B’s overweight and obese children. Regardless of the causes of
Community B’s overweight and obese children, it was very ob-
vious to the researchers that the impact of Community A’s Food
Corps and Health Coalition groups could not be undermined.
The major focus of these groups were to curtail the prevalence
of obesity in their community and enhance healthy eating habits.
CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS
This case study suggested that healthy eating habits in
children was not as easy as simply telling children to eat healthy.
It required a conscientious effort on the part of the parents and/
or guardians in urging the children to eat healthy. In addition,
if parents and/or guardians wanted their children to eat healthy,
they needed to show good examples of healthy eating behav-
iors at home. Children have photographic memories and they
are very good at doing what they see their parents/guardians do.
It should be noted that if children are to develop healthy eating
habits, parents/guardians should start the children at an early age
eating healthy foods before they develop their taste buds for un-
healthy food choices.
This study also had implications for the communi-
ties. Even if the parents and/or guardians were showing good
examples of healthy eating behaviors at home, what about the
children’s experiences with junk food in their communities?
One of the participants whose family members were regulars
at ball games stated: “...they could provide healthy food in the
concession stands, I spent a large part of my life in concession
stands with kids in ball games, and you know the cheese dip, the
pretzels, hot dogs...your taste buds are adapted to that, it would
be nice where there would be healthier choices...” Bearing the
above in mind, community leaders should be thinking of some
modalities to enhance the food choices or provide healthier
choices in their community events.
Proles Community A Community B
Population 2,381 2,785
Male 47.0% 40.5%
Female 53.0% 59.5%
Hispanic 8.8% 49.7%
White alone 85.4% 46.1%
Asian alone 2.3% 2.9%
Two or more races 1.8% 2.6%
Black alone 0.6% 0.3%
American Indian alone 0.8% 0.3%
Per capita income $16,105 $14,599
Median resident age 31.3 years 29.1 years
Median gross rent $570 $588
Rate of overweight + obese high school
children
25.0% 52.5%
Rate of overweight + obese intermediate
school children
27.0% 49.7%
Rate of overweight + obese elementary
school children 1
18.6% 39.4%
Rate of overweight + obese elementary
school children 2
21.7% N/A
Food Corps Very active Inactive
Health Coalition Very active Unknown
Table 6: Differences between community A and B.
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The ndings also indicated that even though parents
and/or guardians were aware of healthy food choices, many
were faced with the challenges of providing healthy food choic-
es to their children. Some of their major challenges included: too
busy (no time) to eat healthy and the lack of adequate income
to eat healthy. These challenges seemed to be a commonality
in the two studied communities. One of the major implications
of these challenges was that parents and/or guardians should be
cognizant of the importance of creating time for healthy eating.
Hence, if parents and/or guardians want their children to adapt to
healthy eating habits, they must create time for healthy eating. In
addition, the community leaders (especially in rural communi-
ties) should embark on some modalities to support underprivi-
leged families to help secure healthy food choices. For example,
they should work with local schools or colleges to provide gov-
ernment funded or discounted healthy meal options for the un-
derprivileged members in their community.
LIMITATIONS AND DIRECTIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH
This study, like many other studies, was not without
limitations. The credibility and reliability of a qualitative re-
search was highly dependent on triangulation for enhancing the
validity of the study. This study was designed with various forms
of validity and reliability in the research phase. However, the re-
searchers wished they had been able to involve authors who did
not participate in gathering the data for the data analysis phase
of the research. The researchers felt this would be benecial in
curtailing the potential researcher’s bias in regard to data analy-
sis and would heighten the reliability of the generated data. In
addition, the researchers wished they could have studied more
communities to corroborate the ndings from these two com-
munities.
This study provided a logical report regarding the chal-
lenges of healthy eating habits in rural communities. Additional
research is needed to include additional rural communities in or-
der to know if the ndings from these communities can be sup-
ported in other rural communities. In addition, future research
should also focus on urban communities and examine the differ-
ences between the challenges in rural and urban communities.
Furthermore, future studies should also explore the importance
of a community health coalition in the promotion of healthy eat-
ing habits.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
This material is based upon work that is supported by the Arkan-
sas Agricultural Experiment Station (Project number: ARK0og-
beide, DUNS Number: 024500618). The authors would like to
extend their gratitude for funding this research.
CONFLICTS OF INTEREST
The authors declare that they have no conicts of interest.
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