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Table 7 Quotes 47–61 about determinants of eating behavior on the interpersonal level

From: Determinants of changes in women’s and men’s eating behavior across the transition to parenthood: a focus group study

Categories of the interpersonal level

Quotes during pregnancy

Quotes postpartum

Social influence

Quote 47 – Professional influence (pregnant women 19): “My gynaecologist warned me because I gained too much weight over a period of five months.”

Quote 48 – Social pressure to eat (pregnant women 19): “What also affected me were family and colleagues: ‘eat another piece of cake, it won’t hurt you, grab some more chocolate …’.”

Quote 49 – Influence of male partner (expecting father 8): “I did a lot of efforts to cook tasty, but I had the impression that the less taste there was in the food, the better she liked it. So in the end, I just made a dish for her with less herbs, and something spicier for myself.”

Quote 50 – Influence of wife (expecting father 7): “She only wanted to eat pizza and pasta, so I ended up eating it too.”

Quote 51 – Influence of wife (pregnant women 11): “I think for you [to male partner], the main issue was having food nearby. If there were cookies for me on the table, you automatically started to eat them as well.”

Quote 52 – Influence of wife (expecting father 4): “Then I started eating her portions, and it all went wrong.” (talking about left over food because of the changing preferences of pregnant partner)

Quote 53 – Influence of wife (expecting father 11): “I can only think of alcohol consumption. Because she was not allowed to drink alcohol during pregnancy. (…) We did not longer have that open bottle of wine during the weekends.”

Quote 54 – Professional influence (first- time father 5): “We started eating a larger variety of vegetables after receiving a list from a parent support organization containing advise on what she [about daughter] should eat.”

Influence of baby

 

Quote 55 – Adaptation to rhythm of baby (first-time mother 11): “We used to eat quite early in the evening, when he [about partner] came home, because he cooks. But now we either eat before or after the bottle of our baby. It also depends on his [about baby] mood and if we can leave him alone for a while.”

Quote 56 – Baby needs attention (first-time mother 13): “If I hear the baby, I think ‘Oh no, he needs something’, and then I eat very quickly so I can take care of him or comfort him.”

Quote 57 – Baby needs attention (first-time mother 16): “I think less about food, because I am busy with everything else all the time. This makes that I sometimes forget, ‘Oh right, we still have to eat as well’.”

Quote 58 – Practical constraints because of baby (first-time mother 15): “I breastfeed and this causes me to not eat certain things because of cramps [for the baby].”

Quote 59 – Baby becomes priority (first-time father 16): “Not necessarily lack of time to cook, it is more a time management issue, you want much more time … If you have an hour you would rather play 55 min with your child, and spent 5 min to prepare food.”

Quote 60 – Role model (first-time mother 14): “For example, not having soft drinks is especially an issue for me, but I need to be a good example to him [the baby].”

Quote 61 – Dietary intake of baby (first-time mother 12): “I do eat more fruits and vegetables since he [baby] has to eat fruits and vegetables.”

  1. Quotes from people who participated in the first set of focus groups were identified as ‘pregnant women x’ or ‘expecting father x’, even though some already delivered at the moment of the focus group discussion. Quotes from people who participated in the second set of focus groups were identified as ‘first-time mother x’ or ‘first-time father x’