Perceived barriers/facilitators to a healthy lifestyle among diverse adolescents with overweight/obesity: A qualitative study

Abstract

Objective: Effectiveness of behavioural obesity treatments in adolescents is modest. Thus, incorporating participant feedback may lead to improvement of intervention acceptability. This qualitative study's objective was to assess perceived barriers/facilitators to weight loss and healthy lifestyles among diverse adolescents with overweight/obesity (OW/OB). Methods: Adolescents ages 14-19 with BMI ≥ 85th percentile participated in focus groups and identified perceived barriers/facilitators to weight loss and healthy lifestyles. Results: Ten sex-stratified focus groups (n = 41; n = 13 males, n = 28 females) were conducted in 2018 and 2019. Females reported experiencing weight struggles, whereas males often stated no struggles with weight, despite all participants meeting criterion for OW/OB. Barriers included eating behaviours, family members and internal motivation, with additional barriers of physical activity, friends, time and support cited in females. Facilitators included parental, familial and peer support of healthy eating and exercise, modelling behaviours, internal motivation and organized sports. Two additional findings regarding adolescents' perceived barriers/facilitators include substantial overlap and sex differences of perceived barriers/facilitators. Conclusions: Adolescent males and females with OW/OB experience weight status differently, affecting their perceived barriers/facilitators to weight loss and healthy lifestyles. Tailoring weight management interventions to the unique needs of adolescent females versus adolescent males has the potential to improve intervention quality and effectiveness.

“Good Food Causes Good Effects and Bad Food Causes Bad Effects”: Awareness, Meanings and Perceptions of Malnutrition among Pakistani Adolescents Living in Slums through Photodiaries and Interviews

“…The evidence in this study suggests that participants grasped the drivers of malnutrition but did not identify malnutrition as a complex health issue involving structural determinants such as political, geographical and socioeconomic factors. Consistent with qualitative evidence in adolescents, this study identified malnutrition drivers to be sanitation [ 52 , 53 ], exercise [ 54 ], families [ 55 ], peers [ 56 ], wellbeing [ 57 , 58 ], gender [ 59 , 60 ], nutritional knowledge [ 61 ], media [ 56 ], and most importantly, food [ 59 , 62 ]. Malnutrition appeared to be strongly linked to dietary intake and eating habits in this sample.…”

Nutrient Density and Microbial Safety of Open-Air-Dried Beef Meat and Its Biochemical and Organ Histopathology Effects in Albino Rats: A Promising Ingredient for Complementary Food Formulation

“…The blood samples were centrifuged at 3000 rpm for 10 min; after being separated from the whole blood, the serum was stored at a temperature of -80°C until clinical chemistry analysis was run. Liver function tests such as aspartate transaminase (AST), alanine transaminase, alkaline phosphatase (ALP), albumin, and bilirubin total (BILT); enzyme tests such as α -amylase (AMYL) and lipase [ 28 ]; and heart function tests such as C-reactive protein (CRP), highly sensitive (CRP-HS), troponin, and creatine kinase (CK) were conducted. In addition, kidney function tests like urea and creatine were examined according to analysis parameters indicated in [ 1 , 28 , 29 ].…”

Addressing psychosocial health in the treatment and care of adolescents with obesity

“…Adolescent engagement in self-directed strategies to manage weight may be influenced by parents, peers, and the media. Adolescents report feeling shame and guilt when parents comment on their weight (43), and parental weight-related teasing is associated with engagement in binge eating and purging behaviors and weight gain in adolescents (44). Similarly, bullying by peers is associated with body shame and disordered eating behaviors (45).…”