Environment Factors Affecting Childhood Obesity: Voices from Students, Parents, and Teachers with Photograph

Eunok Park; Hyo Young Lee

doi:10.4040/jkan.2019.49.3.254

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Park and Lee: Environment Factors Affecting Childhood Obesity: Voices from Students, Parents, and Teachers with Photograph

Original Article

J Korean Acad Nurs 2019;49(3):254-262.

Published online: 15 January 2019

DOI: https://doi.org/10.4040/jkan.2019.49.3.254

Environment Factors Affecting Childhood Obesity: Voices from Students, Parents, and Teachers with Photograph

Eunok Park¹, Hyo Young Lee^2,

¹College of Nursing, Jeju National University, Jeju

²Departmemt of Health Administration, Dongseo University, Busan, Korea

Address reprint requests to : Lee, Hyo Young Departmemt of Health Administration, Dongseo University, 47 Jurye-ro, Sasang-gu, Busan 47011, Korea Tel: +82-51-320-2725 Fax: +82-51-320-2723 E-mail: princesa@dongseo.ac.kr

Received 5 October 2018 Revised 11 February 2019 Accepted 11 February 2019

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution NoDerivs License. (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0) If the original work is properly cited and retained without any modification or reproduction, it can be used and re-distributed in any format and medium.

Abstract

Purpose

This study aimed to explore the environmental factors affecting childhood obesity using photovoice from the perspectives of students, parents, and teachers in the community.

Methods

Six school students, seven parents, and seven school teachers completed an assignment requiring them to take 24 pictures and participate in group discussions. After training session, the participants were asked to take pictures associated with food and physical activity environments related to childhood obesity at home, school, and within their communities for two weeks and to submit the pictures with records. Each group had four sessions for discussion.

Results

School cafeteria, convenience stores near schools, instant food and fast food joints, food delivery, and high-calorie snacks comprised the food environmental factors. Lack of physical activity classes at school, commuting by car, barriers to physical activity, and use of smart-phone were environmental factors that inhibited physical activity.

Conclusion

To reduce childhood obesity, the creation of a supportive environment for encouraging the consumption of healthy foods and enhancing physical activity should be considered. Modifications of and improvement to the obesogenic environment might be a good strategy to prevent and reduce childhood obesity.

Keywords: Child, Obesity, Environment, Voice, Photograph

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Figure 1.

School store: an example photo of this study.

Figure 2.

The part of results: categorizing and naming on environmental factors on child obesity of high school students.

Table 1.

General Characteristics of Study Participants

Students
Gender	Age		Exercise class in school/week	Cafeteria in school

Male	17		2 hours	O
Female	18		1 hour	O
Male	17		2 hours	O
Female	18		1 hour	O
Female	18		1 hour	O
Male	16		3 hours	X

Parents
Gender	Age		Education	Number of children

Female	43		University	2
Female	50		University	1
Female	36		Graduate school	2
Female	43		Graduate school	2
Female	49		Graduate school	1
Female	35		University	2
Female	52		University	1

Teachers
Gender	Age	School type	Size of school (classes)	Career (years)

Female	31	High	19~24	<5
Female	36	Elementary	>37	<5
Female	30	Elementary	<18	5~10
Female	30	Elementary	<18	5~10
Female	30	High	31~36	<5
Female	36	Middle	25~30	10~15
Female	42	High	<18	10~15

Table 2.

Factors Related with Adolescents Obesity

Categories	High school students	Parents	Teachers
School environments	- School exercise programs to enjoy	- School programs for promoting	- School cafeteria
	activities	physical activities (walking, exercise)	- Adulterated food (junk food,
	- Good school facilities to encourage	- School garden	unsanitary food)
	exercising	- Barriers preventing physical activities	- High calorie snacks
	- Unfriendly walking roads for students	around school	- Cheap foods that are easy to share
	to go to school	- Many convenience stores near	- Short break time for school meals
	- School cafeterias or stores causing	schools
	students to become obese	- Lack of healthy snacks (in school)
	- Vending machines that tempt
	students to buy a drink every break
	- Short breaks for school meals
	- Lack of physical activity classes at
	school
	- Early school hours
Community	- Commuting by car even though the	- Excessive use of cars (reducing	- Excessive use of cars
environments	distance is short	activities)	- Uncomfortable public transportation
	- Neglected exercise facilities	- Uncomfortable public transportation	- Unfriendly walking roads
	- Convenience stores open all 24 hours	- Dangerous walking environments	- Environments preventing physical
	instant foods; easy and convenient	- Marketing strategies of convenience	activities
	- Attracting cusotrmers to buy displayed	stores (one plus one etc.)	- Environments supporting exercises
	food	- Increasing dessert cafes	- Convenience stores
	- Burden of preparing for an entrance	- The rapid increase of delicious	- Fast food joints
	examination for a university resulting	restaurants causing frequent eating	- Marketing foods in large packages
	in ignoring meal times	out	- Many beverage options
		- Busy schedules from school to private	- Many delicious restaurant options
		institutes (snacking on junk foods)	- Excessive study hours
		- Frequent meetings	- Lack of sleep
		- Social trends more concerned with
		foods and cooking
		- Advertisement to enhance obesity
		awareness
Home	- Food delivery at any time and any	- Food delivery	- Food delivery or take-out
environments	place	- Instant food options and busy	- Late dinner time
	- High-calorie snacks	mothers	- Korean culture to encourages eating a
		- Smartphones	lot of food
			- Smartphones preventing physical
			activities
			- Environments preventing people from
			focusing on eating

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