A social process of school-aged children becoming overweight

The number of overweight school-aged children has been escalating around the world, even though various weight management programs have been launched in schools. To better understand the phenomena, this study explored the social process of school-aged children becoming overweight. The grounded theory method of Glaser was applied in collecting and analyzing data. There were six parents, four teachers, and a school lunch team leader involved in the study. The findings resulted in a preliminary model, Social Process of School-Aged Children Becoming Overweight, which demonstrated that the Child’s Characteristics and Dietary Intake was a core category. The five remaining categories were Encouraged Eating, Parental Overweight Perceptions, Weight Gain, Observational/Interventional Triggers, and Weight Control. Child’s Characteristics and Dietary Intake involved a child’s eating behaviors; Encouraged Eating was inside/outside influences that affected a child’s eating behaviors; Parental Overweight Perceptions was their viewpoint towards a child's weight status; Weight Gain is weight gained after increased food consumption; Observational/Interventional Triggers are verbal and nonverbally reflected actions towards a child’s weight status. Encouraged Eating and Parent’s Overweight Perception influenced Child’s Characteristics and Dietary Intake and contributed to a child becoming overweight. Diverse weight-management tactics were attempted, but were not strong enough or regularly applied in order to obtain a positive change. Regular weight checkups and formal notifications from the school are needed as an early warning in helping to promote a healthier weight/lifestyle. Understanding the phenomena enables nurses to create more effective weight management programs. Follow up testing and possible modification of the preliminary model are needed for verification.