Severely overweight children and dietary changes--a family perspective
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Vibeke Lorentzen1, Vicki Dyeremose, Birte Hedegaard Larsen
1Centre of Nursing Research, Viborg, Denmark. vibeke.lorentzen@rm.viborg.dk
Insights
Overweight children and their families need tailored, long-term support for successful dietary changes. Interventions must be prejudice-free, accepting, and supportive to address challenges like stigmatization and parental barriers.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Nutrition
- Family Health Studies
- Qualitative Research Methods
Background:
- Childhood obesity is a growing public health concern with significant long-term health risks.
- Prevalence of overweight children in Europe has tripled in 30 years, affecting 10-40%.
- Obese children face risks of complicated childhoods and adult obesity-related illnesses.
Purpose of the Study:
- To explore the dietary change experiences of overweight children and their families.
- To understand the challenges and successes families encounter during weight management.
- To inform the development of effective family-centered obesity interventions.
Main Methods:
- Descriptive qualitative longitudinal case study design.
- In-depth interviews conducted with four overweight children, six parents, and four siblings.
- Thematic, phenomenological analysis of 61 interviews over a two-year period.
Main Results:
- Children experienced pressure, stigmatization, and developed self-protective strategies regarding dietary changes.
- Parents exhibited varied reactions including acceptance, support, indulgence, and faced barriers to successful change.
- Families identified needs for professional support but often felt rejected by authorities.
Conclusions:
- Successful weight loss requires long-term, individualized interventions that are prejudice-free and supportive.
- Family-centered approaches are crucial, addressing both child and parent perspectives.
- Interventions should acknowledge and mitigate the psychological and social challenges associated with childhood obesity.
Aim:
This article is a report on a descriptive qualitative case study of the dietary change experiences of overweight children and their families.
Background:
Obese children are at risk of experiencing a complicated childhood and becoming obese adults with associated ill health and premature death. The prevalence of obesity among children appears to be rising rapidly. In Europe, prevalence rates for overweight children are 10-40%, and generally this prevalence has tripled during the past 30 years.
Method:
The study was conducted as a qualitative longitudinal case study on the basis of 2-3 annual interviews with four overweight Danish children, six parents and four siblings from April 2006 to September 2008. Altogether 61 interviews were conducted. In the data analysis process, a thematic, phenomenological approach was used.
Findings:
The following themes were identified: the reactions and attitudes of children with the sub-themes taking ownership of dietary changes and vulnerability reactions; and the reactions and attitudes of parents with the sub-themes personal acceptance and support, indulgence and protection, setting limits and barriers to successful dietary change. The children were under pressure, showed signs of stigmatization and marginalization, and developed self-protecting strategies. The parents tried to cope to the best of their ability, needed help, but felt rejected by professional key persons and authorities.
Conclusions:
On the basis of the study, it was hypothesised that a prejudice-free, individually accepting and supporting intervention must be provided for each family over time to ensure successful weight loss.
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