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Research Project: Enhancing Childhood Health and Lifestyle Behaviors

Location: Children's Nutrition Research Center

Title: Using social network analysis to identify roles in food-related tasks and nutrition advice seeking sources of Black mothers

Author
item CALLENDER, CHISHINGA - Children'S Nutrition Research Center (CNRC)
item FUJIMOTO, KAYO - Uthealth Houston School Of Public Health
item DAVE, JAYNA - Children'S Nutrition Research Center (CNRC)
item JIBAJA-WEISS, MARIA - Baylor College Of Medicine
item MONTEALEGRE, JANE - Md Anderson Cancer Center
item Thompson, Deborah

Submitted to: Annals of Behavioral Medicine
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 11/7/2025
Publication Date: 4/22/2026
Citation: Callender, C., Fujimoto, K., Dave, J., Jibaja-Weiss, M., Montealegre, J.R., Thompson, D.J. 2026. Using social network analysis to identify roles in food-related tasks and nutrition advice seeking sources of Black mothers. Annals of Behavioral Medicine. 60(Suppl 1):S529. https://doi.org/10.1093/abm/kaag012.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/abm/kaag012

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Obesity disparities in Black youth are linked to dietary behaviors that may increase their risk. Parents, especially mothers, are key influences of children's dietary behaviors. Understanding how social networks influence parents' dietary-related behaviors is essential to developing more effective health promotion strategies. This study explores the nutrition advice seeking sources and roles in food-related tasks among Black mothers of pre-adolescent children. This is a secondary analysis of a community-engaged, multi-methods study (online surveys, telephone interviews) with a community advisory board (CAB) consisting of Black mothers with children aged 9-12 years. Participants completed an online survey that asked: "who or where you would go to for food or nutrition advice," "who usually does the food shopping in your home," and "who usually does the food preparation in your home." Descriptive statistics were used to summarize demographic characteristics and responses. An advice seeking network was generated using UCINET 6.80 to assess seeking pattern. Network maps were generated in NetDraw 2.190 to visualize advice-seeking behavior by participant characteristics such as age and marital status. The CAB (n=15) included 14 mothers and 1 grandmother, 30-39 years old (60%), married (53%), and described their family structure as nuclear (53%). A majority were the primary food shoppers (60%) while some identified food shopping as a shared responsibility (33%) or performed by another adult (7%). Some mothers were the primary food preparers (47%), while some identified it as shared responsibility (33%), or performed by another adult (20%). Mothers reported a variety of advice seeking sources: self (60%), coach (53%), doctor (53%), YouTube (53%), and websites (47%). The degree centrality was highest for mothers who selected a greater number of nutrition advice sources and those who selected shared responsibility for both food shopping and preparation. This indicates greater connectivity and potential influence. Using social network analysis to identify nutrition advice seeking sources and roles in food-related tasks among Black mothers can provide insight into how parental behaviors influence children's dietary choices. Understanding these networks can provide a foundation for designing more culturally relevant and effective nutrition and obesity prevention interventions.