Table 3.
Parental changes attributed to the C.H.A.M.P. program
| Increased awareness and modelling |
| • “This whole CHAMP thing has been good for me personally, and the family, because it…reminds you what’s important- the sodium levels, the sugar levels…I really enjoyed the diabetes [education] because it was a really good, scary reminder of what can happen if you don’t do stuff….” |
| • “Because I know what they [my children] look like…and that they’re heading towards where I am, and I don’t want that. So if I can do this now…if I can get me to feel and look better, then I think it will really help them too. I really do.” |
| • “I’d say I’m more conscious about me. Just how I’m taking care of me and taking that time for me…Because they [my children] see it.” |
| • “[I realize] [j]ust how important it is for me to keep my word or my end of the bargain…I mean, kids are a product of their environment…in order for [my daughter] to get to where she needs to be, she needs to be able to follow my husband and myself so she knows how to get there. So it’s…being really aware of that, I think is the most important part for me.” |
| • “[I]t has to be a family… thing. Like…you can’t just have the kid go and…expect them to make the change. I mean,…we have to reinforce it and I think we have to want it for them. But we have to also want it for ourselves in order to…make it work.” |
| Empowerment and trust |
| • “Right now, it’s just, we’re more empowered to go and take those steps…and say ‘No, you know better. I know you know better, and I know I know better.’” |
| • “Empowered. Yeah, definitely. You feel like you have more knowledge to…work everything out, you know? Any of that. Whether it’s with the nutrition or exercise … You feel like you have some more tools to kind of deal with things.” |
| • “I know that, personally, I’m accepting more of our son’s feedback. I think I am more confident that he understands better when we talk about nutrition…exercise and health…I’m more confident in his understanding of it, so I, I give more credence to what he says.” |
| • “We [as parents] are listening a lot more, and…interacting more, just sitting and talking to him [my son] more, like a person and… not quite an equal, but not as just a child either…because he did take a lot more away from this [C.H.A.M.P.] than what I ever expected he would, and he retained so much more than we ever thought he would. So when we do talk, it’s just like talking to another person.” |
| • “I think the way we go about it is different now. Before it was always, you know, ‘If you keep eating like that….you’re gonna get bigger and bigger.’ But now, because he can relate to portion size and nutrition…he knows what’s good for him and he knows what his ‘sometimes’ foods are…but we can talk almost the same language. Whereas before, we would talk and he would have to listen, but now he knows what we’re talking about.” |
| • “I think [my daughter] realizes now she has the tools to do things, but it’s up to her to…That mom and dad don’t always have to say ‘You have to do this and that.’ That you can indeed take responsibility for yourself and it’s up to you to do that.” |
| • “[Now], they [the kids at C.H.A.M.P.] actually understand what’s going on, and whether it’s physical activity or…it’s like they have a sense of understanding; what you should be doing, even if, you know, they might not want to do it…they get something that’s important. They didn’t get that before.” |