Background: Parents, both through food choices and parenting behaviours, play a significant role in shaping their child’s eating habits. Children from socioeconomically disadvantaged families are at particular risk of poor nutrition and obesity. The majority of studies in child feeding research consist of homogenous samples of mothers generally derived from privileged communities, while recruitment of fathers and low-income families has been challenging. The aim of the study was to explore the feasibility of various strategies to enhance participation in child nutrition research of families (including mothers and fathers) living in socioeconomically disadvantaged communities.
Methods: Recruitment focused on the Logan, Queensland, a disadvantaged community identified as an area of high developmental vulnerability (AEDC 2015). Recruitment included Early Child Education and Care (ECEC) service centres, playgroups and family services from February to July, 2016. Furthermore, a variety of engagement methods (hardcopy surveys, face-to-face, internet and via telephone) and choice of incentives (selection of vouchers) were examined and uptake or preferences of incentives were explored.
Results: Recruitment from 32 settings yielded N=273 participants (of which were n=117 mother-father pairs). To date, face-to-face recruitment at ECEC centres has been the most successful recruitment method (68.5% of the sample). Perceived enablers included forming collaborative relationships with community stakeholders, providing incentives and media support. Conversely, perceived challenges included inability to recruit non-English speaking families and return of unpaired surveys or recruitment of single parents (13.9% of the total sample). Recruitment continues to be monitored.
Conclusions: This study provides insight into potential engagement and recruitment strategies of families living in circumstances of disadvantage. Our data which focused on a single disadvantaged location suggests ECEC settings are significant sites for research engagement, particularly through face-to-face methods. Application of effective engagement and recruitment strategies is essential to enhance uptake of disadvantaged families in child nutrition research.