Parents were less willing to take risks with their children's health than with their own. This was partly because children were perceived as more susceptible than healthy adults and partly because their children were dependent on them making good decisions. This unwillingness to take risks included being cautious of preventive action as well as cautious about diseases. An important barrier to action was the tension between what is 'natural' and medical intervention. For many mothers there was something 'unnatural' about medical intervention. They held a belief that medical intervention was necessary for important diseases but that it was not safe or necessary to use for all problems. Again, this perception that what is unnatural is more risky is congruent with the studies of subjective risk perception, but could not be predicted from the Health Belief Model.