the individual’s Capability (C), defined as a persons’
psychological or physical ability to enact the
behaviour (e.g., knowledge, skills),
the individual’s Opportunity (O), defined as the physical
or social environment that enables the behaviour (e.g.,
availability of information, social support),
and the individual’s Motivation (M), defined as the
reflective (including self-conscious planning, analysis
and decision-making) and the automatic (involving
emotional reactions, drives, impulses and habits) mechanisms
that may activate or inhibit behaviour [45].
The present study therefore explored, in a group of
mothers with low educational attainment, the importance
of the COM-B elements in affecting whether
parents of low educational attainment adopt feeding
practices associated with healthy, or excess, weight gain.
It aimed to address existing gaps in knowledge about
the antecedents of infant feeding practices in mothers
of low educational attainment that could be used in
the design of obesity prevention programs tailored to
this high-risk group.