Adolescents’ Perspectives on Personal and Societal Responsibility for Childhood Obesity — The Study of Beliefs through ‘Serious’ Game (PlayDecide)

Abstract

The dominant approaches to public health policy on childhood obesity are based on the neoliberal emphasis of personal choice and individual responsibility. We study adolescents' (N = 81) beliefs about responsibility for childhood obesity as a public health issue, through an innovative participatory method, PlayDecide, organised in two countries: the UK and Spain. There is no evidence of a blanket rejection of individual responsibility, rather, a call for renegotiation of the values that inform adolescents' food choices. The findings suggest the need to broaden the framing of obesity-related policy to go beyond the nutritional paradigm and include other values that signal health.

Adolescents’ Perceptions and Experiences of Their Responsibilities for Their Alcohol Use—A Group Interview Study

“…According to previous studies, adolescents perceived alcohol to be even more harmful than cannabis [ 40 ]. However, the reasons our participants gave for using alcohol were also in line with other studies [ 14 , 15 , 16 ]. These included belonging to a group, regulating and controlling their emotions, having new experiences and excitement.…”

“…These included belonging to a group, regulating and controlling their emotions, having new experiences and excitement. Research has found that some adolescents had not considered the harmful consequences of alcohol use at all [ 41 ] and did not feel they were responsible for them [ 15 ]. Instead, adolescents said that some adolescents seemed to feel that seeking new experiences could be more important than having a good relationship with their parents.…”

“…This means that adolescents’ perceptions of their responsibilities have an effect on their use of alcohol. Their perceptions that alcohol provides their lives with meaning, such as their need for identity and hedonic pleasures, often lead adolescents to knowingly make unhealthy decisions and choices, despite the risks [ 15 ].…”

“…Research has found that adolescents used alcohol to control their feelings, such as belonging to a group [15], pleasure, freedom [13] and relaxation [14]. They also used it to cope with feelings of depression, unhappiness and boredom and got drunk to boost their confidence [14,16].…”

‘McDonald’s Is Good for My Social Life’. Developing Health Promotion Together with Adolescent Girls from Disadvantaged Neighbourhoods in Amsterdam

“…All girls struggled to some extent with gaining a 'perfect' body, which is in line with many studies about body image and bodyweight among adolescent girls (Megalakaki et al, 2013;Stevenson et al, 2007;Stigler et al, 2011). The need for unhealthy food for social belonging on the one hand while worrying about unhealthy choices on the other hand was also found by Timotijevic et al (2018). This worrying about bodyweight can be explained by the current obesity discourse which tends to medicalise obesity and includes neo-liberal views on health, including a focus on self-regulation, own responsibility and autonomy (Lawrence, 2004;Lupton, 2013;Rich and Evans, 2005).…”