5:6 No, two pieces of fruit per day is good for one’s belly. 5:5 No, drinking two glasses of milk is good for one’s belly. 5:2 Not the belly, but rather, the bones. 5:6 Well, there is an expression that says: ‘‘An apple a day keeps the doctor away.’’ 5:4 Hugs are good for your belly, too! 5:7 For the belly? 5:4 No, for the soul. 5:1 I love hugging and hugs are good for you. 5:7 Hugging is good for both belly and soul. Although the students had a clear idea of activities that would promote their health, they did not always act accordingly. They knew that home-cooked food incorporating vegetables and fruit was good for them, but sometimes they skipped meals or ate fast food, even though they had previously experienced the consequences of behaving like this, being bad tempered, feeling tired, having trouble concentrating and getting headaches. Their experience also gave them an idea of the contributing factors to their actions: peer pressure, for example, could lead to unhealthy behavior like being tempted to smoke if they had friends who were smokers. Established habits could also be a negative factor, for example, eating sweets during the week- ends. In addition to these factors, according to the students, it was difficult to start a new sport when you are older because it is hard to keep up with everyone else because they have had a head start. They emphasized the importance of early experi- ences as a health-promoting factor. Some said that they were motivated by the fear of disease and some girls mentioned a fear of gaining weight. On the subject of eating sweets and the consequences of that habit, one discussion went: 5:3 It is bad for your teeth. 5:4 And then there is always the fear of getting fat. 5:5 You know, it is the thinnest of us who eat masses of sweets. Almost every day, that is. . . . We don’t put on weight, but then, when one gets older, the fat or the things from the sweets build up in the body and one gets fatter. One doesn’t put on much weight as a child; rather, it happens when one gets older if one does not exercise. The students reported that the time of the year was a factor that influenced their physical activity level as they were more active during the summer and were more inclined to sit in front of the computer during the cold season. Swedish adolescents and health promotion Considering change and having ideas of how change could be supported The third subtheme reflected the finding that the students had some suggestions for behaviors they might be willing to change, and in some cases, would even like to change. The students mentioned their eating habits, and particularly reducing eating between meals and cutting down on their sugar intake. They also wanted to have more rest and sleep, preferably on weekday mornings. The girls expressed a wish to not think negative thoughts about themselves. Increased physical activity and a decrease in ‘‘screen time’’ were other changes considered by the students as revealed by the following comment: 2:4 Perhaps one shouldn’t use the computer so much, one sits in front of the computer a lot of the time at home. The first thing one does on arrival at school is sit at the computer, and then it is the same, one sits at the computer when one gets home. The adolescent’s perceived support in doing what is good for their health from other people, espe- cially friends, but also parents, and to some extent, teachers and coaches. They might be inspired to try a new sport if they had friends who were already active. Parents were supportive, helping with prac- tical aspects, like buying healthy food and driving to sport activities, but they also assisted by setting rules about, for example, the maximum amount of time that could be time spent on the computer. The support given by parents had unforeseen benefits since the students had noticed that their parents had also reduced their candy consummation when the students did not eat sweets. Goals and rewards could be helpful when making a behavioral change, for example a ‘‘candy promise’’ (i.e., receiving money in exchange for not eating candy). However when a ‘‘candy promise’’ was made, there were different experiences of how successful it was; most thought that it supported them, at least initially: 6:3 I’ve have one right now [candy promise]. I have managed to go two months without candy. I will get 1000 crowns if I make it through to the summer. M OK, and is it going well? 6:3 Well, not really, I feel damn tempted. M Have the rest of you tried candy promise? 6:1 No. 6:4 Yes, it’s going well. I have managed to stick to it. I have kept it up for quite a while, from last Christmas, I think. 6:3 Someone I know has done it for about half a Citation: Int J Qualitative Stud Health Well-being 2012; 7: 17726 - http://dx.doi.org/10.3402/qhw.v7i0.17726 5 (page number not for citation purpose)