Parenting in an era of risk: responding to the obesity crisis

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to explore parents’ perspectives and concerns related to childhood obesity and children's health. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 19 parents (14 mothers and 5 fathers) of primary school aged children. Qualitative analysis revealed that the parents were concerned about healthy living but not necessarily about obesity per se, since some parents resisted the dominant discourse surrounding the notion of obesity risk. It was important for all of the parents, though, to see themselves as ‘good parents’ by ensuring healthy nutrition and exercise. This, in turn, led to considerable challenges for the parents, including workload increase, stress, and frustration. The findings are discussed in terms of new ideologies of intensive parenting and the potential influence of the ‘risk society’ on parenting practices.

KEYWORDS:

• Childhood obesity
• parenting practices
• parenting challenges
• risk society

Additional information

Funding

This paper represents one component of a larger research project that was made possible through funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada [grant number 410-2009-0927].