Rewards for healthy behaviours was widely perceived to be a feasible intervention, but of doubtful effectiveness. Involvement of children in the planning of delivery of interventions through mechanisms such as school councils was felt to be feasible and an important facilitator to intervention. The importance of adult role models in influencing healthy behaviour was a repeated theme. Potential role models included parents, teachers, celebrities, and faith leaders. The central role of religion in the predominantly Muslim communities was seen as an
opportunity for intervention, find more therefore faith leaders were a particular focus of discussion. Several participants (but not all) felt that faith leaders would not engage with interventions targeting health-related
behaviours as they Nutlin-3a mw would not identify this as part of their ‘faith’ role. There was a general perception that the community setting provided an unexploited opportunity. The provision of local low cost physical activity and healthy eating sessions were suggested and prioritised as potential interventions. Existing community resources were identified as a potential opportunity and effective signposting to these was a suggested intervention. Quotations from participants illustrating emergent themes are shown in Table 2. In addition to the specific facilitators and barriers discussed, several global barriers to intervention emerged. Children’s expectations and demand for choice was a perceived barrier; children expect to have a choice of food at home and school, and prefer sedentary
activities such as television and computers. Cultural norms within South Asian communities were highlighted. Practical barriers such as language were perceived to make intervention more challenging, but a more fundamental barrier identified was the perception that overweight children are healthy, and underweight is of more concern. The lack of parental time was identified as a barrier (see Discussion). This would impact on any interventions involving parental engagement. A further perceived barrier was the cost of commodities such as healthy food and leisure time Liothyronine Sodium activities. The major barriers identified for schools were curricular pressures and competing priorities. Quotations from participants relating to intervention barriers are shown in Table 3. After consideration of the FG data, the Professionals defined a set of underlying principles to guide intervention design and delivery. These were: development of an inclusive (suitable for all ethnic groups), sustainable intervention; a focus on developing practical skills; delivery of the intervention in a predominantly verbal format; and involvement of children in the implementation planning. The group then agreed a shortlist of components to be considered for the final programme.