Open AccessParents' Thoughts Regarding Their Normal-Weight Children's Food and Physical Activity as Expressed During Health Conversations With the School Nurse: A Qualitative Analysis Informing Health-Promoting Practices
Author(s) -
Marianna Moberg,
Marie Golsäter,
Åsa Norman
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
the journal of school nursing/journal of school nursing
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.617
H-Index - 33
eISSN - 1546-8364
pISSN - 1059-8405
DOI - 10.1177/10598405211025440
Subject(s) - psychology , health promotion , physical activity , developmental psychology , promotion (chess) , qualitative research , nursing , medicine , public health , social science , sociology , politics , political science , law , physical medicine and rehabilitation
Parents are key to promoting children's healthy growth and development. However, school nurses need knowledge about how to best support parents' health-promoting activities. This study aimed to explore parents' thoughts regarding their normal-weight 6-year-old children's food and physical activity behaviors as expressed during health conversations with the school nurse. Qualitative content analysis of audio-recorded conversations (n = 30) showed that parents think of their children's behaviors in terms of: (a) children's personality in relation to food and physical activity; (b) recognizing children's food and physical activity behaviors; (c) parenting in relation to food and physical activity; (d) interaction with children in situations around food and physical activity; and (e) contextual circumstances to promote children's healthy food and physical activity behaviors. The study contributes with novel knowledge regarding clinical work in health promotion, with suggestions for how school nurses can engage parents in promoting and sustaining healthy food and physical activity behaviors.