Indian Students' Perspectives on Obesity and School-Based Obesity Prevention: A Qualitative Examination

Childhood obesity has recently been reported as a growing problem in low- and middle-income countries. One potential prevention strategy is to apply effective obesity prevention approaches from the United States and/or other Western countries into programs that can be implemented in developing countries such as India. The purpose of this study was to explore Indian students’ perceptions of social–contextual factors related to obesity and whether they perceived a role for school-based obesity prevention. This study was conducted as a first step in a model to translate interventions from one culture to another. A total of 183 fourth- and fifth-grade students of middle socioeconomic status participated in focus group discussions. Analyses were guided by the essential principles of qualitative research and informed by social cognitive and social ecological theories. Results yielded five relevant themes: (a) student health behavior knowledge, (b) parental influence on health behavior, (c) school influence on h...