Health visitors’ perspectives on infant and young child feeding practices: An exploratory study

This study explores health visitors’ experiences of supporting parents with infant feeding. A constructivist grounded theory approach (Charmaz, 2014) was selected, which informed sampling, data collection and data analysis methods. Three themes were identified: influence of family, culture and ethnicity; big is beautiful; and the influence of health visitors.Participants viewed infant and young child feeding as complex and multifaceted. Misconceptions about weight were described as common, with many parents unable to identify overweight, particularly those from black and ethnic minority (BAME) communities. Health visitors have a key role in supporting families with feeding practices, although peer support was suggested as being potentially beneficial. Future research should focus on the role of health visitors in supporting nutrition in the early years, with particular emphasis on child obesity prevention.