Objective: Increasing parental awareness of childhood obesity is an important part of tackling the issue. However, parents' negative reactions to being informed that their children are overweight or obese can hinder their engagement with relevant services. The present study aimed to develop a deeper understanding of why parents react negatively, to help commissioners and service providers design services that are more acceptable to them. Design: Open, qualitative responses to a survey were collected using a postal questionnaire. Responses were analysed using content analysis. Setting: One local authority in south-west England.