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Objectives: This study explored US rural parents’ perceived facilitators, challenges and motivators to healthy eating. Methods: Qualitative and purposive sampling was used to recruit one hundred ( N = 100) parents of children enrolled in the fourth grade to participate in a series of focus group sessions. Eligibility criteria included being the head of the household and having a child enrolled in the fourth grade. Parents were questioned about factors impacting everyday lifestyle practices such as nutrition knowledge and eating habits. Data were analysed using grounded theory and constant comparative method. Results: Twelve focus groups sessions were conducted with parents who self-identified as African American (63%), Hispanic (25%) and Caucasian 2%. The majority (52%) of participants indicated they only had some high school education. Healthy eating among parents was highly dependent on socioeconomic status, time, availability and access to foods. Facilitators to healthy eating were school lunch programmes, nutrition education and family preferences. Findings demonstrate that parents tried to eat meals at home, but many factors (fear of genetically modified foods, money and time) prevented healthy eating and food preparation. Parents who consumed or prepared meals at home did so because of family influence and the fear of being unhealthy. Conclusion and implications: This study provides an in-depth understanding of rural parents’ efforts to promote healthy eating at home regardless of socioeconomic challenges.

IntroductionAs physical performance may be more difficult for overweight children than for their non-overweight peers, understanding how weight impacts student performance in the physical education (P.E.) classroom could inform school-based obesity prevention programming.Materials and methodsThis qualitative case study examined one elementary physical educator’s perspectives of overweight students’ weight-related experiences in her classroom. Narratives were elicited during an in-depth interview and analyzed using structural and thematic analyses. We utilized the social cognitive theory to inform our exploration of the narratives.FindingsThe thematic analysis illuminated a behavioral pattern of student refusal to participate in the P.E. classroom while the structural analysis emphasized the teacher’s constructive, individualized responses to participation refusals. Combined, the two analytic techniques provided a more holistic snapshot of the experiences of overweight students in this elementary school. In addition, a preliminary model explaining the behavioral pattern among overweight students in this particular P.E. classroom was created.DiscussionStudents who were overweight were more likely to initially refuse to attempt physical tasks in the classroom because they feared peer ridicule, and the teacher played a critical role in whether these students chose to participate in subsequent classes. As agents of change, P.E. educators should be included in formative stages of comprehensive, systemic changes to combat childhood obesity.

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