What do children understand? Communicating health behavior in a European multicenter study

Background: Diet and physical activity are important factors in the prevention of childhood overweight. This article stresses the importance of effective communication for health behavior. Methods: Transcription, description and analysis of standardized focus group discussions (FGD) in seven European countries using standardized questioning routes. Results: Parents are well informed about health-related topics for children, but seem to have difficulties understanding their role in promoting healthy behavior. They mentioned health-related rules, but our results show limited communication between parents and children, and no follow-up of rules. Consequently, children do not understand rules about good health and do not follow them. Conclusion: Effective and sustainable intervention programs should focus on educational methods and, using parental role modeling, facilitate parents' comprehension of their key role in setting rules and controlling them in order to communicate good health behavior to their children

Family, school and child development : exploring effects of developmentally appropriate attitudes and practices toward play and learning in Nicosia Cyprus

This study, undertaken in Nicosia, Cyprus, explored the impact of developmentally appropriate practices (DAP) by studying how the attitudes and practices of Greek/Cypriot parents (n = 142) and teachers (n= 16) regarding the developmental importance of academics and play vary, and in particular, how classroom practices are related to the social, emotional and cognitive development of Greek/Cypriot children (n = 142) between 4.10 and 7.0 years of age. Results indicated that observed and reported classroom practices were related systematically to parental attitudes and practices, thereby providing evidence of selection that needed to be statistically controlled. Children exposed to fewer art activities in the classroom were rated as being more playful by their teachers, and younger (i.e., preschool) children in more developmentally inappropriate classrooms scored higher on teacher-rated social skills. Grade-I children in more developmentally appropriate classrooms manifested greater anxiety in the testing situation. Children who were in classrooms in which teaching practices and values regarding play proved inconsistent with the those of their families scored higher on teacher-rated behaviour problems; however, children in classrooms in which family- classroom consistency was the norm scored higher on parent-rated behavioural problems. Because some of the results were inconsistent with previously-reported findings, and hence contradict the claims that inappropriate classroom practices are harmful to young children, the question arises as to why this proved to be the case in Cyprus. Implications for future research are therefore discussed.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Formative research to develop the IDEFICS physical activity intervention component : findings from focus groups with children and parents

Background: The current study aimed at describing influencing factors for physical activity among young children to determine the best approaches for developing the IDEFICS community based intervention. Methods: In 8 European sites a trained moderator conducted a minimum of 4 focus groups using standardized questioning guides. A total of 56 focus groups were conducted including 36 focus groups with parents and 20 focus groups with children, of which 74 were boys and 81 girls. Key findings were identified through independent reviews of focus group summary reports using content analysis methods. Findings: Findings were generally consistent across countries. The greatest emphasis was on environmental physical (eg, seasonal influences, availability of facilities and safety), institutional (eg, length of breaks at school), and social factors (eg, role modeling of parents). Most cited personal factors by parents were age, social economical status, and perceived barriers. Both children and parents mentioned the importance of children's preferences. Conclusions: To increase physical activity levels of young children the intervention should aim at creating an environment (physical, institutional, social) supportive of physical activity. On the other hand strategies should take into account personal factors like age and social economical status and should consider personal barriers too

Developing the IDEFICS community-based intervention program to enhance eating behaviors in 2- to 8-year-old children: findings from focus groups with children and parents

One purpose of 'identification and prevention of dietary- and lifestyle-induced health effects in children and infants' (IDEFICS) is to implement a standardized community-based multi-component healthy eating intervention for younger children in eight different countries. The present study describes important influencing factors for dietary behaviors among children aged 2-8 years old in order to determine the best approaches for developing the dietary components of the standardized intervention. Twenty focus groups with children (74 boys, 81 girls) and 36 focus groups with 189 parents (28 men, 161 women) were conducted. Only in two countries, children mentioned receiving nutrition education at school. Rules at home and at school ranged from not allowing the consumption of unhealthy products to allowing everything. The same diversity was found for availability of (un)healthy products at home and school. Parents mentioned personal (lack of time, financial constraints, preferences), socio-environmental (family, peer influences), institutional (school policies) and physical-environmental (availability of unhealthy products, price, season) barriers for healthy eating. This focus group research provided valuable information to guide the first phase in the IDEFICS intervention development. There was a large variability in findings within countries. Interventions should be tailored at the personal and environmental level to increase the likelihood of behavioral change