Korean J Community Nutr KJCN Korean Journal of Community Nutrition 1226-0983 2287-1624 The Korean Society of Community Nutrition 10.5720/kjcn.2019.24.2.117 Research Article A Qualitative Study on the Potential Utilization of a Mobile Phone for Obesity Management in Elementary-School Children : Parents Perspective https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5059-9734 Lee Bo Young 1 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0422-3629 Park Mi-Young 2 https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3054-8758 Kim Kirang 3 https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8458-9112 Shim Jea Eun 4 https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4003-1293 Hwang Ji-Yun 5 Department of Foodservice Management and Nutrition, Graduate School, Sangmyung University, Seoul, Korea, Graduate Student. Department of Food and Nutrition & Research Institute of Obesity Sciences, Sungshin Women's University, Seoul, Korea, Research Professor. Department of Food Science and Nutrition, Dankook University, Cheonan, Korea, Professor. Department of Food and Nutrition, Daejeon University, Daejeon, Korea, Professor. Department of Foodservice Management and Nutrition, Sangmyung University, Seoul, Korea, Professor. Corresponding author: Ji-Yun Hwang. Department of Foodservice Management and Nutrition, Sangmyung University, 20 Hongjimun-2-gil, Jongno-gu, Seoul 03016, South Korea. Tel: (02) 781-7521, Fax: (02) 2287-0104, jiyunhk@smu.ac.kr 04 2019 30 04 2019 24 2 117 126 19 03 2019 24 04 2019 25 04 2019 Copyright © 2019 The Korean Society of Community Nutrition 2019 The Korean Society of Community Nutrition This is an Open-Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Objectives

This study was conducted to investigate the current difficulties surrounding children's obesity management and evaluate the application of a mobile phone as a tool to overcome such difficulties of obesity management from the perspective of main caregivers of elementary school students.

 Methods

The qualitative data were collected through 3 focus group interviews including 6 full-time housewives, 7 mothers with overweight children, and 4 working mothers. Data were analyzed using a thematic approach.

 Results

The limitations of current children's obesity management included difficulty in diet management and exercise as well as challenges of setting goals and lack of support at the household and school levels. Mobile technology may be useful to overcome the current problems by providing real-time knowledge on diet management and physical activity, online compensation scheme according to goal setting, and interactive environmental supports at both household and school levels for promoting overall health.

 Conclusions

The mobile-based multiple support program may assist in overcoming the current limitations of child obesity management by providing tailored information and by creating a more supportive environment.

 childhood obesity parents mobile phone qualitative study National Research Foundation of Korea https://doi.org/10.13039/501100003725 NRF-2013M3C8A2A01078464 NRF-2014M3C8A2A01070970 Acknowledgments

This research was supported by the R&D Program for Society of the National Research Foundation (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Science and ICT (Grant number : NRF-2013M3C8A2A01078464 & NRF-2014M3C8A2A01070970)

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