Fathers’ experiences of childcare and feeding: A photo-elicitation study in a low resource setting in urban Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

PLOS ONE · 4 authors, 3 centres

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TL;DR

This qualitative study used photo-elicitation interviews with 10 fathers of children under five in urban Addis Ababa to explore their lived experiences of childcare and feeding. Fathers expressed deep emotional attachment to their children and active involvement in caregiving, but faced significant challenges from poverty, poor housing, unemployment, and the COVID-19 pandemic.

Full summary

949 CHARS

This qualitative exploratory study used photo-elicitation-enhanced in-depth interviews with 10 fathers of children aged 0–59 months in Lideta sub-city, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Participants were recruited through urban health extension workers and diversified by employment type, education, age, and community involvement. Interviews were conducted in Amharic, audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed using thematic analysis. The overarching theme was 'Fatherhood as an enduring identity,' with three sub-themes: blessings of fathering, adjusting to fathering roles, and struggles in a low-resource setting. Fathers reported strong attachment to their children, involvement in cooking, feeding, and playing, and described financial pressures from poor housing, unemployment, and the COVID-19 pandemic. The authors suggest fathers should be considered as agents for child nutrition interventions, provided livelihood support is incorporated.

STUDY TYPE

other

SPECIALTY

public health

SUMMARISED BY

AI pipeline

FIDELITY CHECK

100% · A

ORIGINAL PAPER

PMC10361465

Fathers’ experiences of childcare and feeding: A photo-elicitation study in a low resource setting in urban Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

PLOS ONE

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ABSTRACT

Children’s health and wellbeing studies focus mainly on mothers’ roles while very little is known about the experiences/challenges that fathers face in fulfilling their responsibilities. Therefore, this study aims to explore the fathers’ lived experiences of childcare and feeding in an urban low-income setting. This qualitative study was conducted in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Photo-elicitation was used to facilitate the in-depth interviews with fathers of children below the age of five years. All interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed and translated verbatim, followed by a thematic analysis approach. The overarching theme of this study was “Fatherhood as an enduring identity”, which comprised of three sub-themes: 1) Blessings of fatherhood, 2) Adjusting to fathering roles, and 3) Struggles/demands of fatherhood in a low-resource setting. Fathers expressed that having children or becoming parents was a blessing. They expressed their love, devotion, and attachment to their children. Some used the term "my second chance in life" underscoring the importance. Although fathers strived relentlessly to spend time and care for their children, they faced challenges such as internal struggles adjusting to and fatherhood whilst maintaining a sense of their former self. As well, providing for their families amidst added pressures imposed by the external environment, such as poor housing conditions, a lack of employment opportunities, the then COVID-19 pandemic, further increased their stressors. Most fathers were engaged in child care and feeding, suggesting that like mothers, fathers should be viewed as potential agents for implementing nutrition interventions in this setting. However, if interventions are to be successful, they need to incorporate components that boost fathers’ livelihoods and general wellbeing.

CITATION EXPORT

Hanna Y. Berhane, Dagmawit Tewahido, Workagegnhu Tarekegn et al.. Fathers’ experiences of childcare and feeding: A photo-elicitation study in a low resource setting in urban Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. PLOS ONE. (2023). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0288487

AUTHORS

4 · 3 CENTRES

Hanna Y. Berhane, Dagmawit Tewahido, Workagegnhu Tarekegn, Jill Trenholm

1 Nutrition and behavioral science department, Addis Continental Institute of Public Health, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
2 Department of Women’s and Children Health, International Maternal and Child Health, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
University of Pavia: Universita degli Studi di Pavia, ITALY

EDITOR / REVIEWER

Livio Provenzi