Parental Perceptions of Body Mass Index Notification: A Qualitative Study.
BACKGROUND
There is a worldwide epidemic of obesity in children. To address obesity in children, emphasis must be on factors within family, school, and community environments. Although most parents and school officials are aware of the problem of overweight children, there are few data available to guide decision making about the acceptability of school-based body mass index (BMI) screening and referral programs. Parental insight is essential to determine the efficiency and effectiveness of BMI notification.


METHODS
The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the perceptions of parents whose school-age children received a BMI referral letter stating their child is overweight. Purposeful convenience sampling was used to obtain 21 parents. Semistructured interviews were used to collect the data.


RESULTS
Eight themes and corresponding subthemes emerged. The themes regarding parental perceptions were feelings about receiving the letter, causes of obesity, capabilities, barriers, role modeling, primary care provider response, school's role, and health screening process.


CONCLUSIONS
The findings of this study can serve as the foundation and provide guidance for parents, schools, healthcare professionals, and communities when attempting to implement changes and programs to combat the epidemic of childhood obesity.
Creighton University College of Nursing & Osteoporosis Research Center, 2500 California Plaza, Omaha, NE 68178. mistyschwartz@creighton.edu.
Misty
M
Schwartz
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001294:Attitude to Health; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002648:Child; D002664:Child Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology*; D063766:Pediatric Obesity / Q000523:psychology*; D036301:Qualitative Research; D012572:School Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration
BMI notification; childhood obesity; parental perceptions of overweight