Addressing weight-related issues in an elementary school: what do students, parents, and school staff recommend?
This study examined weight-related issues affecting elementary school children to gain insight into how best to address these issues within a school-based intervention. The study population included 21 students, 12 school staff members, and 21 parents from a school that serves an ethnically-diverse population. Data were collected using focus groups and individual interviews and were analyzed using qualitative research methodology. Weight-related teasing and poor body image emerged as prominent issues affecting students. Results suggest that programs aimed at the prevention of weight-related disorders should go beyond issues of nutrition and physical activity and include strategies to reduce weight-related mistreatment and to improve students' body image.
Haines
Jess
J
Division of Epidemiology and Community Health, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55454, USA. haines@epi.umn.edu
Neumark-Sztainer
Dianne
D
Thiel
Lynnell
L
D001828:Body Image; D001835:Body Weight; D002648:Child; D003376:Counseling; D005178:Faculty; D005260:Female; D017144:Focus Groups; D006266:Health Education; D006801:Humans; D007406:Interview, Psychological; D008297:Male; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology*; D012928:Social Desirability; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology*