Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021 Sep-Oct:60:181-189.
doi: 10.1016/j.pedn.2021.06.016. Epub 2021 Jul 2.

Family Management of Severe Obesity in Adolescents

Karyn J Roberts  1 , Agatha M Gallo  2 , Crystal L Patil  2 , Catherine Vincent  2 , Helen J Binns  3 , Mary Dawn Koenig  2
Affiliations

Family Management of Severe Obesity in Adolescents

Karyn J Roberts et al. J Pediatr Nurs. 2021 Sep-Oct.

Abstract

Purpose: Severe obesity, defined as a body mass index (BMI) ≥120th percent of the 95th BMI percentile for age and sex, is the fastest growing subcategory of obesity among youth, yet little is known about how this group understands and incorporates weight management strategies. The aims of this study were to explore how parents and adolescents understand severe obesity and incorporate management into their daily lives and evaluate the applicability of the Family Management Styles Framework (FMSF) to better understand the impact of severe obesity for adolescents.

Design and methods: Directed content analysis grounded in a modified version of the FMSF was used to analyze one-time in-home face-to-face interviews with adolescents aged 12-17 years (N = 14) who received pediatric weight management care and a parent (N = 17).

Results: Both adolescents and parents described the day-to-day management as challenging and impactful to parent-child and sibling relationships. They described the need for sustained support and coaching in meeting daily physical activity requirements and related stories of weight stigma experienced. Further, parents' and adolescents' views were mostly congruent, except in their view of effectiveness of daily routines and how family attitudes and actions did or did not support the adolescent.

Conclusions: The FMSF was successfully applied to understand family management of adolescents with severe obesity. These adolescents have complex physical and psychological needs impacting effective weight management and family life.

Practice implications: Technology interventions should be considered to improve physiological and psychological outcomes for youth with severe obesity.

Keywords: Adolescents; Family management; Qualitative research; Severe obesity.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Current model of the Family Management Style Framework (FMSF) Used with permission from Knafl, K.A. and Deatrick, J.A. Copyright by Sage Publications (2012)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Al-Khudairy E, Loveman JL, Colquitt E, Mead RE, Johnson H, et al. (2017). Diet, physical activity and behavrioural interventions for the treatment of overweight or obeses adolescents aged 12–17 years. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews(6). 10.1002/14651858.CD012691 In this issue. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Beacham BL, & Deatrick JA (2015). Children with chronic conditions: Perspectives on condition management. Journal of Pediatric Nursing: Nursing Care of Children and Families, 30(1), 25–35. 10.1016/j.pedn.2014.10.011 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Beacham BL, & Deatrick JA (2019). Adapting the family management styles framework to include children. Journal of Pediatric Nursing: Nursing Care of Children and Families, 45, 26–36. 10.1016/j.pedn.2018.12.006 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Bishop JA, Irby MB, & Skelton JA (2015). Family perceptions of a family-based pediatric obesity treatment program. Infant, Child, and Adolescent Nutrition, 7(5), 278–286. 10.1177/1941406415591209 - DOI
    1. Campbell M, Benton JM, & Werk LN (2011). Parent perceptions to promote a healthier lifestyle for their obese child. Social Work in Health Care, 50(10), 787–800. 10.1080/00981389.2011.597316 [doi] - DOI - PubMed