Early adolescents' physical activity and nutrition beliefs and behaviors in an urban cluster in the southeastern United States

Abstract

Obesity in early adolescents is a significant public health problem that has adverse health consequences, to include increasing the risk of developing type two diabetes and hypertension. Factors such as the environment, nutrition, and physical activity contribute to obesity in early adolescents. The purpose of this ethnographic study was to explore the physical activity and nutrition beliefs and behaviors of early adolescents in an urban cluster in the southeastern part of the United States. The researcher recruited early adolescents at a community organization and collected data using three ethnographic methods: semi-structured interviewing, participant observation, and collection of artifacts. Data were analyzed using constant comparative analysis to shed light on the meaning of early adolescents’ communications about their physical activity and nutrition beliefs and behaviors. Themes that emerged from data analysis included recognizing benefits of physical activity and healthy eating, family influences, connecting with the community, peer influences, electronic media influences, and developing a sense of self. This study contributes to nursing science in three ways. First, all early adolescents recognized both physical activity and healthy eating as beneficial for promoting their health and improving the quality of their lives. Second, early adolescents described their mothers as the most influential family member for both their physical activity and healthy eating behaviors. Third, the community organization was identified as the main facilitator of early adolescents’ physical activities within their immediate environment outside their home. These findings explain three different points of entry that the nursing community can use, separately or together, for their health promotion strategies to encourage physical activity and healthy eating among early adolescents.