Jariya Supruang
Burapha University, Thailand
Title: Managing Eating Behaviors Perceptions of People with Metabolic Syndrome
Biography
Biography: Jariya Supruang
Abstract
Metabolic syndrome has significantly increased in Thailand. As a complex array of symptoms, the syndrome can lead to chronic diseases. Eating behaviors play an important role in the syndrome’s development. The purpose was to explore the perception of managing eating behaviors of people with metabolic syndrome. Qualitative content analysis was used to examine the data from 24 participants in focus group discussions. Content analysis was organized by reading the transcripts and line-by-line coding of phrases and concepts to identify issues related to eating behaviors. Codes were linked to create sub-categories then further reduced to form categories, following a three-stage process of data reduction, data display, and drawing conclusions/verification.
Three categories emerged from data analysis: 1) Perceptions about metabolic syndrome, 2) Eating behaviors of people with metabolic syndrome, and 3) Management of eating behaviors. The results could be categorized into 1) Perception driven Metabolic Syndrome emerged into 1.1) “It’s only being fat and big belly”, and 1.2) “Obesity was a source of many diseases, but I still feel like a normal person”. 2) Eating behavior of people with Metabolic Syndrome emerged into 2.1) “Emotion influenced eating behavior”, 2.2) “Thought related to eating behavior”, 2.3) “Socio-environmental impeded eating behavior”, and 2.4) “Cultural interfered with eating behavior” 3) Management of eating behavior emerged into 3.1) “Success in changing eating behavior”, and 3.2) “Failure in changing eating behavior”. The findings provide understanding of the participants’ perceptions of tyring to manage their eating behaviors with metabolic syndrome.
Keywords: metabolic syndrome, eating behaviors, focus group discussion