Representative Quotations from Qualitative Interviews
| Implementation of the Choices model | Parent 1: “They said, ‘This is not what you have to do, this is the way it is. If you choose to do this, it leads to some ramifications. Do you want this or not? It's up to you.’ …It was constantly stressed that we're not telling you what to do…we're just showing you, giving you bits of information so that you can make choices.… As a parent, that's exactly what I try and do with [my daughter].” |
| Parent 2: “…When [child's name] will say to me, ‘Can I have this or that?’ what I try and say is it's your body, it's your choice what you put into your body, you are in control or what goes into your body, you know, and so I try and evoke…I think that the name Choices for the program is a great name.” | |
| Parent 3: “I thought Choices was great…good lifestyle information that everyone Can benefit from, not just people that are struggling with weight issues….” | |
| Interviewer: So you like going outside a lot, and you got into the program to learn about that? Child 1: Yeah, and to learn how I can get fit, just be more confident with who I am, and just make better choices. Child 2: [Making better food choices] made me…feel better, like, on the holidays, that I don't eat as much. And that I'm watching over myself, instead of just my parents watching over me. And it has made me feel good that I have gotten more active and stuff like that. | |
| Parent 4: “…Before I came to Choices classes I had all those problems, a lot of the conflicts for food, [child] wants some bad foods, as a parent I try to be nice and then…sometimes I get angry, and behave angry, all those…we have family conflicts, and then when I came to Choices classes and talked to other parents, I realized it's not only my problem, it's everyone's problem. We feel like friends, even though we only met a couple of times, we already feel the same way.” | |
| Resilience | Parent 5: “My wife was very…supportive, she liked us coming to the Choices project because she's also concerned about [child]'s health, and she knows that all those pamphlets, all [that] information, that I bring from the Choices project, she takes a look at the reading materials.” |
| Parent 6: “Everyday in the beginning when we would come to the class, [the nutritionist] would have some kind of low-calorie snack, which was good…now I'm putting more vegetables in his lunch.” | |
| Parent 7: “Her mother tends to like chicken nuggets and Easy Macs, but I know she took information back, and I noticed because Monday she packs a lunch for [child's name], [whispering] so I always check, and there actually gets to some fresh fruit in there and vegetables now.” | |
| Parent 8: “…When I am with [child's name] I always try and encourage her, you know, watch her portions, think about what you are putting in your body, drink more water, and I don't think that a lot of that is happening when she is with her mom.…” | |
| Parent 9: “…Some kids had been teasing her at school before we got here, and so she was very self-conscious.… And then, the other thing is that I think the class gave her a little more confidence…” | |
| Parent 10: “I think seeing other kids heavy helped him accept that it's okay to be heavier because [before] he would wear sweatshirts in May when it was like 95 degrees outside…and he doesn't do that anymore, this year he is not wearing his hoodie.” |