Government and school community member perception on childhood obesity prevention in the primary school settings of Brunei Darussalam
Introduction: Childhood obesity is increasing in the Southeast Asian region, including in the nation of Brunei Darussalam. Within the public health focus on obesity prevention, specific settings, including primary schools, have been singled out as suitable sites for action. Recognizing that stakehol...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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University of Sarajevo
2018-12-01
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| Series: | Journal of Health Sciences |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.jhsci.ba/ojs/index.php/jhsci/article/view/191 |
| _version_ | 1818516319285280768 |
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| author | Siti Rohaiza Ahmad Lisa Schubert Robert Bush |
| author_facet | Siti Rohaiza Ahmad Lisa Schubert Robert Bush |
| author_sort | Siti Rohaiza Ahmad |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Introduction: Childhood obesity is increasing in the Southeast Asian region, including in the nation of Brunei Darussalam. Within the public health focus on obesity prevention, specific settings, including primary schools, have been singled out as suitable sites for action. Recognizing that stakeholders are, in their various roles, producers of policy or implementers of practice, the purpose of this study in Brunei was to establish a baseline for interventions as well as to establish strengths and limitations in the current practice.
Methods: Semi-structured interview with government and school community stakeholders was conducted, and transcriptions were thematically analyzed.
Results: Three themes emerged from the data. The first theme was “children’s eating habits today = healthy adult population tomorrow;” many of the stakeholders believed that, if healthy eating is not practiced from an early stage, this can lead to the development of harmful diet-related diseases in the future. The second theme was “barriers to effectively addressing the issue of childhood obesity;” all were able to identify barriers such as workforce issues to address obesity prevention and health promotion activities. The third theme was “parental responsibility for children’s diet and physical activity habits.” The majority of respondents believed that parents are responsible for the rise in childhood obesity in Brunei.
Conclusions: The widespread ethos of personal responsibility for health behaviors has resulted in policies having a heavy emphasis on individual health behavior management and blame for the problem being directed primarily at parents. This individualization of the problem of childhood obesity is a barrier to the planning and implementation of ecological interventions. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-11T00:40:29Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-91fb1e1e4b7d4176bfec3331e622f69e |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2232-7576 1986-8049 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-11T00:40:29Z |
| publishDate | 2018-12-01 |
| publisher | University of Sarajevo |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Health Sciences |
| spelling | doaj.art-91fb1e1e4b7d4176bfec3331e622f69e2022-12-22T01:26:56ZengUniversity of SarajevoJournal of Health Sciences2232-75761986-80492018-12-018310.17532/jhsci.2018.191Government and school community member perception on childhood obesity prevention in the primary school settings of Brunei DarussalamSiti Rohaiza Ahmad0Lisa Schubert1Robert Bush2Universiti Brunei Darussalam, PAPRSB Institute of Health Science, Jalan Tungku Link, BE1410, Brunei DarussalamFaculty of Medicine, The University of Queensland, School of Public Health, Herston, Qld 4006, AustraliaFaculty of Medicine, The University of Queensland, School of Public Health, Herston, Qld 4006, AustraliaIntroduction: Childhood obesity is increasing in the Southeast Asian region, including in the nation of Brunei Darussalam. Within the public health focus on obesity prevention, specific settings, including primary schools, have been singled out as suitable sites for action. Recognizing that stakeholders are, in their various roles, producers of policy or implementers of practice, the purpose of this study in Brunei was to establish a baseline for interventions as well as to establish strengths and limitations in the current practice. Methods: Semi-structured interview with government and school community stakeholders was conducted, and transcriptions were thematically analyzed. Results: Three themes emerged from the data. The first theme was “children’s eating habits today = healthy adult population tomorrow;” many of the stakeholders believed that, if healthy eating is not practiced from an early stage, this can lead to the development of harmful diet-related diseases in the future. The second theme was “barriers to effectively addressing the issue of childhood obesity;” all were able to identify barriers such as workforce issues to address obesity prevention and health promotion activities. The third theme was “parental responsibility for children’s diet and physical activity habits.” The majority of respondents believed that parents are responsible for the rise in childhood obesity in Brunei. Conclusions: The widespread ethos of personal responsibility for health behaviors has resulted in policies having a heavy emphasis on individual health behavior management and blame for the problem being directed primarily at parents. This individualization of the problem of childhood obesity is a barrier to the planning and implementation of ecological interventions.https://www.jhsci.ba/ojs/index.php/jhsci/article/view/191obesitychildhoodstakeholdersdietphysical activity |
| spellingShingle | Siti Rohaiza Ahmad Lisa Schubert Robert Bush Government and school community member perception on childhood obesity prevention in the primary school settings of Brunei Darussalam Journal of Health Sciences obesity childhood stakeholders diet physical activity |
| title | Government and school community member perception on childhood obesity prevention in the primary school settings of Brunei Darussalam |
| title_full | Government and school community member perception on childhood obesity prevention in the primary school settings of Brunei Darussalam |
| title_fullStr | Government and school community member perception on childhood obesity prevention in the primary school settings of Brunei Darussalam |
| title_full_unstemmed | Government and school community member perception on childhood obesity prevention in the primary school settings of Brunei Darussalam |
| title_short | Government and school community member perception on childhood obesity prevention in the primary school settings of Brunei Darussalam |
| title_sort | government and school community member perception on childhood obesity prevention in the primary school settings of brunei darussalam |
| topic | obesity childhood stakeholders diet physical activity |
| url | https://www.jhsci.ba/ojs/index.php/jhsci/article/view/191 |
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