فهرست نشریات علمی دسترسی آزاد ایران

BACKGROUND: Over the last decades, childhood obesity has become a worldwide epidemic healthproblem. Identifying the barriers to a healthy lifestyle among children and adolescents is necessary forfurther effective intervention to prevent overweight and obesity. This study aims to assess the barriersto healthy lifestyle habits, including physical activity (PA), eating, and sleep among adolescents fromthe perspective of their parents.METHODS: In this cross‑sectional study, the parents of obese and overweight middle school studentswere enrolled. Data were collected using a questionnaire about barriers of healthy nutrition and PA.RESULTS: Overall, 172 parents completed the questionnaire. Lack of access to affordable facilitiesfor PA, lack of access to the appropriate place for PA, and lack of sufficient information on how todo or increase PA were the main barriers to PA. The barrier factors for healthy eating were mediaadvertisement of unhealthy foods, lack of motivation to use healthy nutrition, and lack of adequateinformation about healthy eating. Regarding poor sleep, lack of knowledge about the benefits of sleep,prolonged watching television, and late sleep time of family members were reported as the mainbarriers. These findings were not statistically different according to the family socioeconomic level.CONCLUSION: Our findings propose that for improving healthy lifestyle in obese children andadolescents, access to facilities, and appropriate places for PA should be provided at the communitylevel. Moreover, training parents and students about healthy lifestyle behaviors is necessary forfamilies of all socioeconomic levels.