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An investigation into the protective factors for overweight among low socio‐economic status children
Author(s) -
Boshoff Kobie,
Dollman Jim,
Magarey Anthea
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
health promotion journal of australia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.515
H-Index - 32
eISSN - 2201-1617
pISSN - 1036-1073
DOI - 10.1071/he07135
Subject(s) - overweight , health promotion , psychology , developmental psychology , focus group , promotion (chess) , medicine , obesity , clinical psychology , gerontology , public health , marketing , business , nursing , politics , political science , law
Issue addressed In light of the current obesity epidemic, this study aimed to expand the knowledge base about the factors involved and the characteristics of children of low socio‐economic status (SES) who display healthy behaviours in their eating and physical activity. Methods This project was conducted in two phases: a non‐experimental, quantitative design was used in phase one to assess the characteristics of a sample of children in a low SES community. This phase identified children who displayed healthy eating and physical activity behaviours. Phase two used interpretive qualitative methods to investigate the perceptions of these children and their parents about the protective factors involved. Focus groups with children and interviews with their mothers were conducted. Results In phase one, 45 of 227 children assessed met a priori criteria set for healthy eating and physical activity behaviours. Central themes identified in phase two include: the influence of perceived health benefits; parental and child values regarding healthy eating and physical activity; the sense of enjoyment that children experience; the impact of child preferences and choice; and social influences. Conclusion The study illustrated the complexity of factors involved in physical activity and healthy eating among children in a low socio‐economic community. So what? From this study, recommendations are made for health promotion programs related to physical activity and healthy eating. These recommendations, based on the Health Belief Model, include the education of parents about general parenting skills, life skills, self‐efficacy and problem‐solving skills as well as focusing on enjoyment and choice for children.