'A little bit offended and slightly patronised': Parents' experiences of National Child Measurement Programme feedback

Abstract

Objective To develop a descriptive account of parents' experiences of written feedback from the National Child Measurement Programme (NCMP), based on primary data collected from semi-structured focus groups.Design Four focus groups were held with a purposive sample of parents who had recently received written weight feedback from the NCMP in one local authority in England. Thematic data analysis was undertaken to develop a narrative of emergent themes regarding parents' experiences and the social influences shaping this.Setting/Subjects The population of interest was parents of 4-and 5-year-olds who had recently received written feedback from the NCMP. Eighteen parents participated and represented the full spectrum of categories provided in NCMP feedback (under-, healthy, over-and very overweight).Results Participants often rejected overweight feedback as lacking in credibility and considered NCMP communication to be targeting parents other than themselves. Family and peers collaborated in the dismissal of overweight feedback, further legitimising participants' decision to disregard their child's overweight categorisation.Conclusions Our study provides an insight into parents' experiences of NCMP feedback, including how they relate to and understand that experience within a social context. By doing so, it makes a unique contribution to the existing body of evidence. Recommendations for practice based on the findings include further efforts to raise parents' and communities' awareness of childhood obesity, risks associated with childhood excess weight and obesity prevalence as a mainstream issue.