title: Nutrition Interventions for Prevention and Management of Childhood Obesity: What Do Parents Want from an eHealth Program?
abstract: With the growth of Internet technologies, offering interventions for child and family weight management in an online format may address barriers to accessing services. This study aimed to investigate (i) whether an eHealth family healthy lifestyle program would be of interest to parents; and (ii) preferences and/or expectations for program components and features. Parents of children aged four to18 years were recruited through social media and completed an online survey (54 items) including closed and open-ended questions. Responses were collated using descriptive statistics and thematic analysis. Seventy-five participants were included (92% mothers, mean age 39.1 ± 8.6 years, mean BMI 27.6 ± 6.3 kg/m²). The index child had a mean age of 11 ± 6.2 years with 24% overweight/obese. The majority of parents (90.3%) reported interest in an online program, with preference expressed for a non-structured program to allow flexibility users to log-on and off as desired. Parents wanted a program that was easy to use, practical, engaging, endorsed by a reputable source, and able to provide individual tailoring and for their children to be directly involved. The current study supports the need for online delivery of a healthy lifestyle program that targets greater parental concerns of diet rather than child weight.
authors.affiliation: School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Health, University of Newcastle, Newcastle 2308, Australia. Tracy.burrows@newcastle.edu.au.|Priority Research Centre for Physical Activity and Nutrition University of Newcastle, Newcastle 2308, Australia. Tracy.burrows@newcastle.edu.au.
authors.forename: Tracy
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Burrows
authors.affiliation: School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Health, University of Newcastle, Newcastle 2308, Australia. Melinda.hutchesson@newcastle.edu.au.|Priority Research Centre for Physical Activity and Nutrition University of Newcastle, Newcastle 2308, Australia. Melinda.hutchesson@newcastle.edu.au.
authors.forename: Melinda
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hutchesson
authors.affiliation: School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Health, University of Newcastle, Newcastle 2308, Australia. likheng.chai@uon.edu.au.|Priority Research Centre for Physical Activity and Nutrition University of Newcastle, Newcastle 2308, Australia. likheng.chai@uon.edu.au.
authors.forename: Li Kheng
authors.initials: LK
authors.lastname: Chai
authors.affiliation: School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Health, University of Newcastle, Newcastle 2308, Australia. megan.rollo@newcastle.edu.au.|Priority Research Centre for Physical Activity and Nutrition University of Newcastle, Newcastle 2308, Australia. megan.rollo@newcastle.edu.au.
authors.forename: Megan
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rollo
authors.affiliation: School of Design, Communication and IT, University of Newcastle, Newcastle 2308, Australia. Geoff.skinner@newcastle.edu.au.
authors.forename: Geoff
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Skinner
authors.affiliation: School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Health, University of Newcastle, Newcastle 2308, Australia. Clare.Collins@newcastle.edu.au.|Priority Research Centre for Physical Activity and Nutrition University of Newcastle, Newcastle 2308, Australia. Clare.Collins@newcastle.edu.au.
authors.forename: Clare
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Collins
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D015992:Body Mass Index; D001835:Body Weight; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004032:Diet; D019468:Disease Management; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet; D008019:Life Style; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D020380:Needs Assessment; D050177:Overweight; D010290:Parents; D057240:Patient Preference / Q000523:psychology*; D063766:Pediatric Obesity / Q000517:prevention & control*; D057566:Self Report; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D017216:Telemedicine; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Internet; childhood obesity; eHealth; families; healthy lifestyle program; online