Exploring Partners' Part in Shaping the Home Food Environment During the Transition to Fatherhood.

Objective: To investigate primiparous women's partners for knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding the physical home food environment (PHFE), and to assess if the first pregnancy provides a teachable opportunity to enhance the PHFE of first-time pregnant couples.

Design: This was a two-phase longitudinal in-depth qualitative study involving questionnaires and individual interviews during and after pregnancy.

Participants: Fifteen male partners of primigravida women.

Main Outcome Measures: Knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors concerning PHFE; lifestyle and dietary habits; and interest in guidance regarding healthy PHFE during the first pregnancy and the transition to parenthood. Analysis involved descriptive statistics and thematic analysis for qualitative data.

Results: Key findings include the importance of mutual prenatal PHFE decisions; increased motivation for a healthier PHFE during pregnancy; a desire to provide a healthier environment than their own parents offered, acknowledgement of their wives as 'nutrition experts'; challenges in accessibility of health foods in the home; and 'the child eats what we eat'. The first pregnancy was recognized as a critical period for establishing a healthy PHFE.

Conclusions And Implications: Expectant fathers have a crucial role in nestrition (nutritional nesting) in first pregnancies. Their engagement is essential in establishing a more supportive nutritional environment in the home and influencing the family nutrition in the long term. There is a need to promote partner involvement, investigate the broader roles of expectant fathers and non-male partners, and develop effective PHFE education for couples in the first pregnancy.