Nguyen Ngoc-Minh, Dibley Michael J, Tang Hong K, Alam Ashraful
Department of Epidemiology, Pham Ngoc Thach University of Medicine, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
Sydney School of Public Health, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, 2006, Australia.
Matern Child Health J. 2017 Dec;21(12):2199-2208. doi: 10.1007/s10995-017-2340-x.
Background Prevalence of obesity in children in Ho Chi Minh City is rising in the last 10 years. We conducted a formative study to explore the perceptions and practices related to obesity, diet and physical activity among the students in two junior high schools in two suburbs in Ho Chi Minh City to aid in the design of an intervention in preventing obesity among adolescent school children. Method We conducted in-depth interviews with twenty participants including students, their parents, physical education teachers and a representative of the Department of Education. Manually coded and organized data were analysed applying a thematic analysis approach to divulge trends, diversities and similarities among the emerging themes. Results The study revealed diversified perceptions of obesity, diet and physical activity and their relationship with adolescent obesity. The findings indicated low practice of physical activity among almost all students who participated in the study. The major barriers to obesity prevention included knowledge gaps, food environment in the school, devaluation of physical activity and academic burden. Conclusion The findings provide contextual insights to design a culturally appropriate and feasible intervention to tackle child and adolescent obesity by harnessing the perspectives of the target populations.
在过去十年中，胡志明市儿童肥胖症的患病率呈上升趋势。我们开展了一项形成性研究，以探讨胡志明市两个郊区的两所初中学生对肥胖、饮食和体育活动的认知及行为，以协助设计一项预防青少年学生肥胖的干预措施。方法：我们对20名参与者进行了深入访谈，包括学生、他们的父母、体育教师以及教育部的一名代表。对手动编码和整理的数据采用主题分析方法进行分析，以揭示新出现主题中的趋势、差异和相似之处。结果：该研究揭示了对肥胖、饮食和体育活动及其与青少年肥胖关系的多样化认知。研究结果表明，几乎所有参与研究的学生体育活动量都很低。预防肥胖的主要障碍包括知识差距、学校的饮食环境、对体育活动的轻视以及学业负担。结论：研究结果为设计一项符合文化背景且可行的干预措施提供了背景见解，通过利用目标人群的观点来解决儿童和青少年肥胖问题。
