A Qualitative Assessment of Barriers and Facilitators to Achieving Behavior Goals Among Obese Inner-City Adolescents in a Weight Management Program

Abstract

Diabetes educators can include a behavior coach as part of a weight management program to help teens set behavior goals and overcome barriers to reaching behavior goals.

Barriers to a healthy lifestyle among obese adolescents: a qualitative study from Iran

“…The attitude of many of the participants regarding obesity as a normal or even positive occurrence and also their ability to do sports like their peers plays a significant role in creating this positive self-image. This finding is in accord with the findings of the study by Grignard et al (2003), indicating a relation between the decrease of body mass index and negative self-imaging in adolescents and this confirms the findings of Alm et al (2008), concerning the importance of maintaining an ideal physique and the ability to compete in sports to adoption of a healthy lifestyle in adolescents. An important difference between the findings of the current study and the study conducted by Alm et al, was the lack of concern among participants regarding their health conditions and an absence of the sense of threat of falling victim to the complications of obesity.…”

“…An important difference between the findings of the current study and the study conducted by Alm et al, was the lack of concern among participants regarding their health conditions and an absence of the sense of threat of falling victim to the complications of obesity. According to findings available, perceived risk has a central role in creating motivation for healthy lifestyle in adolescents and is recommended as one of the effective solutions in weight management programs (Alm et al 2008;Smalley et al 2004;Walker et al 2002).…”

How Adolescent Boys Perceive Their Bodies, Body Parts, and Weight: Letting Adolescent Boys' Voices be Heard

“…The few investigators who have examined adolescents’ perceptions of their bodies, body parts, and weight used questionnaires (Gronhoj, Bech-Larsen, Chan, & Tsang, 2013), focus groups (Shrewsbury, 2010), individual interviews (Alm et al, 2008; Hester, McKenna, & Gately, 2010; Lindelof, Nielsen, & Pedersen, 2010; Thomas & Irwin, 2009; Wills, Backett-Milburn, Gregory, & Lawton, 2006) and a combination of individual interviews and focus groups (Amiri et al, 2011; Murtagh, Dixey, & Rudolf, 2006). Their sample consisted of mostly obese and/or overweight adolescent boys and girls between the ages of 8 and 17 who identified barriers and facilitators to a healthy body weight and the role of peers, family, and healthcare providers.…”

“…Barriers included an unsupportive family (Alm et al, 2008; Hester et al, 2010; Murtagh et al, 2006); insufficient help from family and unhealthy role models (Amiri et al, 2011), including fathers who sabotage efforts for a healthy lifestyle (Thomas & Irwin, 2009); lack of willpower (Amiri et al, 2011; Wills et al, 2006); lack of self-esteem and levels of confidence (Murtagh et al, 2006); fear of ridicule when participating in sports; lack of knowledge on how to adhere to a healthy diet; high cost of healthy foods (Amiri et al, 2011) lack of healthy choices in nutrition at home, school, or in neighborhood; lack of time to consume food as the adolescents feel rushed with school or extracurricular schedules (Murtagh et al, 2006); insufficient time (usually 1 to 2 hours/week) allotted for physical activity class at school (Alm et al, 2008); lack of amenities such as health-related programs, friends, and recreational opportunities due to living in remote locations (Thomas & Irwin, 2009); and difficulty making sacrifices such as unrealistic strict dietary guidelines to achieve weight loss (Murtagh et al, 2006). …”

“…These facilitators included family support (Alm et al, 2008; Thomas & Irwin, 2009), mother’s role modeling of physical activity (Gronhoj et al, 2013; Thomas & Irwin, 2009), a safe and accessible place for regular unstructured physical play, and weight coaching on a consistent regular basis (Alm et al, 2008). …”