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Parent's views of the importance of making changes in settings where children spend time to prevent obesity
David Crawford1, Anna Timperio, Karen Campbell
1Centre for Physical Activity and Nutrition Research, Deakin University, 221 Burwood Hwy, Burwood, VIC 3125, Australia. dcraw@deakin.edu.au
Insights
Parents desire changes in children's environments to promote healthy eating and physical activity. Many parents believe they can advocate for these changes, indicating feasibility for parental involvement in shaping children's health behaviors.
Area of Science:
- Childhood obesity prevention
- Public health policy
- Parental advocacy
Background:
- Settings like schools and kindergartens significantly influence children's health behaviors.
- Parental involvement is crucial for implementing effective health promotion strategies.
- Understanding parental perspectives on environmental changes is key to addressing childhood obesity risk.
Purpose of the Study:
- To identify desired changes in children's environments (kindergartens, schools, neighborhoods) regarding obesity risk factors.
- To assess parents' willingness to advocate for policy and practice changes impacting children's eating and physical activity.
- To explore parental perceptions of feasibility in driving these environmental modifications.
Main Methods:
- Survey administered to 175 parents from primary schools and kindergartens in metropolitan Melbourne.
- Parents rated the importance of potential changes promoting healthy eating and physical activity.
- Questionnaire assessed parental beliefs about their ability to influence change.
Main Results:
- Parents prioritized changes in the eating environment for kindergarteners.
- Parents of primary school children valued changes in both eating and physical activity environments.
- High percentages of parents (95% for kindergarten, 89% for primary) believed change was possible.
- One in four parents had actively considered or attempted community-level changes.
Conclusions:
- Parents are receptive to advocating for healthier environments for their children.
- Mobilizing parents may be a feasible strategy for promoting healthier eating and physical activity.
- Parental engagement can drive environmental changes that impact children's health behaviors.
Aim:
To examine the kinds of changes parents would like to see in those settings where children spend time (kindergartens and schools, child care centres and after-school care facilities, and the local neighbourhood) in policies and practices that impact on children's risk of obesity, and to establish whether parents might be willing to advocate for changes in these settings.
Materials And Methods:
175 parents from five randomly selected primary schools and five randomly selected kindergartens located in suburbs of metropolitan Melbourne completed a questionnaire in which they rated the importance of a number of potential changes to promote healthy eating and increase physical activity in their children.
Results:
Parents of children in kindergarten most commonly rated changes to the eating environment as important. In contrast, parents of primary school children believed changes related to both eating and physical activity in school were important. Ninety-five per cent of parents of kindergarten children and 89% of parents of primary school children believed it was possible for parents to bring about change to provide more opportunities for their child to eat more healthily and be more physically active. One in four parents reported that they had thought about or had tried to bring about changes in their community.
Conclusions:
The findings suggest that mobilising parents to take an active role in advocating for change in those settings that have the potential to shape their children's physical activity and eating behaviours may be feasible.
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