Table 1 Themes and exemplar meaning units reflecting perceptions about the family-based program

Support

“A lot of the kids that are there, are there for the same reasons. My child was able to understand what they’re all going through, so he was doing the same stuff, like eating habits, exercises, stuff like that, and it just gave them something to do together.” (peer-to-peer support)

“I made a lot of new friends here. It was really fun” (peer-to-peer support) (child)

“The children were happy. The instructors were supportive… they also take your concerns and help you along. The information was great—for the children to hear it from the group leaders, I think it hits home a lot better.” (top-down support)

“I feel like it’ll be better to know if we were doing well, so, like, if they kept telling us if we were doing well or all that, then it’ll make us more motivated.” (desired top-down support) (child)

“Those instructors were great, they supported us every time, they are so patient for the kids.” (top-down support)

“I think the teachers were really good. They tried really hard to keep the kids focused.” (top-down support)

Structure & Content

“what I really liked was that there was so much visual stuff. They did this whole experiment, like how much fat is in M&M’s… I hardly ever eat M&M’s anymore. It’s all the visual stuff for the kids, it’s just brilliant. Rather than just saying you shouldn’t eat this, it was just really visual and it was awesome. Sugar was put in your faces to see how much fat was in that product, that was visual. It was a good thing.” (practical, interactive elements)

“We learned. We learned to eat food in moderation, to check and know how much fat and sodium and stuff’s in the food that we buy from the shops.” (appropriate educational material)

“We did learn so much about food, what’s good, what’s not, there was lots of information. Finding out stuff that I didn’t expect to find out, that stuff, the food had extra sugar that was hidden and stuff like that, so I found it really good.” (appropriate educational material) (child)

“If he had a choice to join in [with the physical activity], he would have enjoyed it more, not like it’s a case of ‘you have to do that.’ I felt like it was a little bit forced upon him.” (enjoyment)