ABSTRACT
High levels of overweight and obesity exist in Latin America and the Caribbean, including in the small island developing state of Barbados [overweight (31.9%) and obesity (14.4%) among Barbadian schoolchildren (13–15 years) in 2011]. Despite increased public health interest in creating anti-childhood obesity policies and interventions to avert this trend, countries still lack evidence to inform policy frameworks and/or intervention design. A phenomenological approach informed by an interpretivist philosophical paradigm guided this research. Factors influencing food choices of children and adolescents in Barbados were identified across the individual, interpersonal, and societal organizational levels of the SE model. Four dominant thematic constructs encapsulated these influences: “non-supportive school food environments”; “nature of family support”; “psychological perceptions of food”; and “preference for westernized foods.” These factors embodied the psychosocial tensions between the desire for healthy eating, the lure of ultra-processed food, and a shift away from the traditional extended family structure. The themes generated by this study align with behaviour change literature, producing promising concepts for guiding context-driven interventions. Additional work is needed to assess intervention feasibility.
