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Child Health Service Nurses' Experiences of Providing Support to Parents With Overweight During Clinical Encounters
Julia Lindblom1,2, Elzana Odzakovic1, Eric A Hodges3
1Department of Nursing, School of Health and Welfare, Jönköping University, Jönköping, Sweden.
Insights
Swedish Child Health Service (CHS) nurses face challenges supporting families with childhood overweight, especially when parents also have overweight. Weight stigma can negatively influence nurses
Area of Science:
- Pediatrics
- Public Health
- Healthcare Professional Studies
Background:
- Childhood overweight is a significant health concern with long-term implications, necessitating early intervention.
- Swedish Child Health Service (CHS) nurses are tasked with addressing childhood overweight, a role perceived as crucial yet demanding.
- Parental overweight is frequently linked to childhood overweight, and the associated stigma can create discomfort for healthcare professionals.
Purpose of the Study:
- To explore the experiences of CHS nurses providing support to parents with overweight concerning their child's overweight.
- To understand how parental overweight influences the interactions between CHS nurses and families regarding childhood overweight.
Main Methods:
- A qualitative descriptive, inductive study design was employed.
- Data were collected through individual semi-structured digital interviews with 14 CHS nurses.
- Latent content analysis was used to analyze the interview transcripts.
Main Results:
- Nurses identified four key categories: role insecurity, focus on concrete health aspects, questioning parental capacity, and attempts to influence parents.
- CHS nurses prioritized the child's weight-related health and lifestyle advice, potentially overlooking parental emotions or socioeconomic factors.
- Parental overweight sometimes led to negative assumptions by nurses about parental ability, and frustration could result in emphasizing parental responsibility or issuing threats.
Conclusions:
- CHS nurses experience significant challenges and a strong sense of responsibility when addressing childhood overweight, particularly when parents are also overweight.
- The findings indicate that weight stigma can shape CHS nurses' approaches, impacting their ability to balance professional duties with a supportive, caring interaction.
- There is a need for strategies to support CHS nurses in managing these complex encounters effectively and equitably.
Background:
Childhood overweight poses health risks and often persists in adulthood, making early intervention essential. Swedish Child Health Service (CHS) nurses are responsible for addressing this issue, a task perceived as important yet challenging. When supporting these families, a caring approach is crucial for well-being and adherence. Childhood overweight is often associated with parental overweight. Due to the sensitivity and stigma surrounding adult overweight, healthcare professionals may experience discomfort, potentially leading to negatively perceived interactions. Despite these challenges, little is known about how parental overweight influences CHS nurses' approach in encounters regarding children's overweight. Therefore, this study aimed to explore how CHS nurses experience providing support to parents with overweight during clinical encounters about their child's overweight.
Methods:
Qualitative descriptive, inductive design was applied. Individual semi-structured digital interviews were conducted with 14 CHS nurses, and transcripts were analysed using latent content analysis.
Results:
Four categories were identified: feeling insecurity regarding professional role, focusing on concrete aspects of health, questioning the parent and trying to influence the parent. CHS nurses perceived addressing the child's overweight as their primary duty. They focused on weight-related aspects of the child's health, emphasising lifestyle advice, while parents' emotions or socioeconomic challenges risked being overlooked. Parental overweight could trigger negative assumptions, including doubts about parents' ability to support their child. When children's weight curve remained unchanged, frustration sometimes led CHS nurses to emphasise parental responsibility or use threats, such as involving child welfare services.
Conclusion:
This study highlights how CHS nurses perceive both challenges and responsibility in addressing childhood overweight, difficulties that intensify when parents themselves have overweight. The findings suggest that while striving to fulfil their role and balance professional responsibility with maintaining a supportive and caring approach, CHS nurses' are sometimes shaped by weight stigma.
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