BACKGROUND This study reports on the process of conducting participatory research by training peer researchers to conduct interviews and analyse data collected with parents of overweight children. The methodology was chosen as a means of (a) encouraging participation among a hard-to-engage group (i.e., parents of overweight children), and (b) generating novel insights and challenging academic/health professional assumptions through the involvement of parents in the interpretation of findings. METHODS Four parents (all female) were recruited as peer researchers and trained in research processes, ethics, and interview skills over three half-day workshops. The intended interviewees were parents of children identified as obese through the National Child Measurement Programme (NCMP) at the start of primary school (age 4-5) but who had lost their excess weight by age 10-11; little is currently known about how this excess weight loss is achieved. Interviews were conducted by peer researchers, transcribed verbatim and analysed thematically by both peer- and university-based investigators. RESULTS The peer researchers felt confident to conduct interviews after three training sessions. Recruitment of interviewees was challenging, resulting in only four volunteers (all mothers) over a 5-month period; thus peer researchers were only able to conduct one interview each. All interviews were considered good quality in comparison to those conducted by Masters-level research assistants. The process of co-analysis resulted in a change in emphasis from that initially generated by the university research team; the role of health professionals in weight management was de-emphasised, and the importance of 'not singling out' overweight children accentuated. Given the limited number of interviews, the results of the study are only provisional but resulted in three themes: Whole Family Action, Support (and lack of support), and Protecting Childhood. CONCLUSIONS Training peer researchers to conduct and analyse interviews was feasible within a short period of training. Peer researchers found the experience interesting, informative and worthwhile. Two of the four volunteered to be involved in a related study 12 months later. The different perspective brought through co-analysis suggests that this approach to conducting participatory research may be a useful means of working with the public to generate new ideas to tackle intransigent issues.

中文翻译：

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父母对肥胖儿童体重过度减轻原因的看法：同行研究人员的方法。

背景 本研究报告了开展参与式研究的过程，培训同行研究人员进行访谈并分析与超重儿童父母收集的数据。该方法被选为（a）鼓励难以参与的群体（即超重儿童的父母）参与的手段，以及（b）通过父母参与产生新颖的见解和挑战学术/健康专业假设调查结果的解释。方法 四名父母（均为女性）被招募为同行研究人员，并在三个半天的研讨会上接受了研究过程、道德和采访技巧方面的培训。预期的受访者是在小学开始时（4-5 岁）通过国家儿童测量计划 (NCMP) 确定为肥胖但在 10-11 岁时体重减轻的儿童的父母；目前对于这种过度减肥是如何实现的知之甚少。访谈由同行研究人员进行，逐字转录并由同行和大学调查人员进行主题分析。结果 同行研究人员在三个培训课程后有信心进行采访。受访者的招募具有挑战性，导致在 5 个月内只有四名志愿者（所有母亲）；因此，同行研究人员每人只能进行一次访谈。与硕士级研究助理进行的访谈相比，所有访谈都被认为质量很好。共同分析的过程导致重点从大学研究团队最初产生的重点发生了变化；卫生专业人员在体重管理中的作用被淡化，而“不挑出”超重儿童的重要性得到强调。鉴于访谈次数有限，该研究的结果只是暂时的，但产生了三个主题：全家行动、支持（和缺乏支持）和保护童年。结论 培训同行研究人员进行和分析访谈在短期培训内是可行的。同行研究人员发现这种体验很有趣、内容丰富且值得。12 个月后，四人中有两人自愿参与一项相关研究。