Children and Parents’ Perceptions of Family Functioning Relating to Childhood Obesity

Abstract

The aim of this study was to describe the perception that children and their parents have about the family functioning relating to childhood obesity. A qualitative study, based on the family systemic theory, was developed. The participants were four children between 10 and 13 years old, with diagnosed obesity, overweight and normal weight, and five of their parents (four females and one male). The techniques used were semi structure interviews, which were audio-taped and transcribed to an electronic format. A thematic content analysis was applied, obtaining six categories: communication, beliefs about weight and body image, beliefs about food, family patterns, controlling eating and attempted solutions. The findings suggest the existence of paradox communication in the families, with contradictory and ambiguous instructions about the eating behavior of the child; beliefs about an ideal weight and type of body for children and adults; ideas about the nutritional qualities of the food that classify them as healthy or prejudicial; family norms that differ according to the role of who buys, cooks or allows the ingest of specific foods; children referring difficulties to control the food intake, while the parents point out that someone else is responsible for that lack of control; also, some strategies that the family has tried unsuccessfully to control the children weight were mentioned, such as diet or nutritional treatments. In summary, we conclude that the perception of childhood obesity is shared by parents and children, where the family interactions emerge as an element that maintains the children obesity having a lack of understatement about the necessary actions for the children’s healthy development.