How Parents Cope With Value Tensions in Their Young Child's Nutrition: An Interview Study Informed by Paradox Theory

When facing challenging nutrition decisions, parents experience tension between their personal values and those they have for their child. These tensions a risk of leading to unhealthy nutrition decisions, particularly in disadvantaged environments where resources for healthy nutrition are scarcer. Prioritising one value over another, i.e., a 'trade-off' such as a child's dietary health over the parent's convenience, can cause stress due to unsatisfactory outcomes and recurring value tension. Drawing on Paradox theory, this qualitative study examines how parents cope with nutrition-related value tensions. Paradox theory explains how individuals manage persistent tensions between competing values by adopting 'both/and' strategies that address both values simultaneously rather than choosing one over the other, i.e., 'either/or' strategies. In the present study, semi-structured interviews were held with 20 parents of children aged 0-5 living in disadvantaged neighbourhoods. Using abductive thematic analysis, we identified coping responses classified as 'either/or' (value trade-offs) and 'both/and' (compromise and paradoxical resolution). While trade-offs were more common, paradoxical resolution strategies, those that address competing values simultaneously, were less frequently employed during challenging moments related to nutrition decisions. Three main themes of 'both/and' coping responses emerged from the analysis: planning and preparing food, managing stressful child behaviours, and supporting children's healthy food acceptance. Factors facilitating these coping responses ranged from individual, interpersonal, to community levels, including time availability, social support, and healthy routines encouraged by daycare. Our findings suggest that 'both/and' coping, aligned with parents' values and context, can support parents in managing food provision and feeding challenges while upholding their values, provided there are sufficient facilitating factors available.