Table 2 Themes, Subthemes, and a Sample of Related Parent Quotes

Parents’ Understanding of T2D

High Blood Sugar

Severe Health Impacts

Managing Your Diet

“Your sugar is high.”

“Your body doesn’t regulate your sugar levels.”

“He was about 27 years old when he became blind completely from diabetes, and then he ended up with a condition called Shark Foot.”

“Do not eat so much of the fast food, just eat a little bit more things that are beneficial to your body like fruits and vegetables and healthier food.”

It Takes a Village

The Onus is on the Adolescent

Starts at Home with the Parents

We Need More Support

Getting the Message in Their Face

“Refrain from junk food, make [their] own food, and engage in regular and ongoing physical activity.”

“Adolescence is a time where one is old enough to start taking care of [oneself] and [one’s] own health.”

“a person still has to want to do it.”

“It's up to the parents to monitor and limit what the kids do, like as a far as screen time, and it's also up to the parents to encourage the kids to get exercise and eat properly. So, I just feel so strongly that it starts at home.”

“When I see, that it’s 13 g of sugar per this much, well, I don’t know how much sugar I'm supposed to eat in the first place.”

“In the class, maybe teachers should give them, like five minutes to stand up and then go jogging, just to boost them.”

“We need health care supports to increase and regularize screening, increase staffing (diabetes specialists) in order to shorten wait times, and ensure students are given individual and holistic attention to help catch any particular health problems they might need help with.”

“If it’s not coming from home, then we’ve got to get the message in their face, and again I've seen ads on TV that do talk about limiting screen time, and you know they’re just kind of stark messages, but to me they are effective. Because they’re educational. They're trying to reach a mass group.”