Parental Effort to Shape Child Healthy Behavior in the Prevention of Covid-19 Transmission: A Qualitative Study

Background: COVID-19 disease does not only attack adults and the elderly but also children. Confirmed COVID-19 cases in Indonesia were found as many as 10.1% in children and as many as 2.9% in toddlers. That said, although COVID-19 cases are rare in children, it does not mean that children are safe from contracting COVID-19. This study aimed to explore the parental effort to shape child healthy behavior in the prevention of COVID-19 transmission. Subjects and Method: This was a qualitative study using ethnographic approach. The study was conducted in the outskirt of Tegal Regency, Central Java. A sample of 8 parents who had children aged 0-11 years was selected by snowballing technique. The themes of this study were the parental effort in educating children in the prevention of COVID-19 transmission such as the use of facemask, handwashing practice, and other parental effort to increase child immunity. The data were collected by observation and in-depth interview. The data were analyzed using reduction-verification-conclusion method. Results: On the positive aspects, most parents taught and educated their children on healthy behavior, including facemask use in public places, handwashing, changing dietary intake, and consuming multivitamins and herbs. However, on the negative aspects, children were often influenced by unhealthy behavior of peers. Children only did the healthy behavior just because of fear from parents and teachers. There was a tendency for children to eat more exceeding daily nutritional needs, which can lead to obesity and metabolic disorders. In addition, children were forced to drink herbs, which could cause trauma to the children. Conclusion: On the positive aspects, most parents have taught and educated their children on healthy behavior such as wearing facemask in public places, handwashing, changing dietary intake, and consuming multivitamins and herbs. On the negative aspects, some inadvertent effort occurred which resulted in undesirable effects such as over eating and trauma among the children.