Aim: To describe parenting models and support of parents in treatment of adolescents with obesity, identify age specific and typical situations of relevance for the treatment of adolescents with obesity, and suggest treatment strategies from these perspectives.

Method: Four cornerstones are used: (1) employ a model of parent roles used in adolescent medicine to describe changes and treatment effects, (2) adapt treatment to characteristics typical for different ages and developmental stages of adolescents as defined in adolescent medicine, (3) create motivating dialogues with parents and adolescents and build a trusting relationship that gives incitement to change, (4) use the feedback experience from group and individual treatment from a total of 180 patients, 10–18 y, with parents.

Results: Fifteen age-specific, typical situations where parenting roles and styles in the rearing of adolescents have a central role in the treatment of adolescents with obesity were identified and illustrated.

Conclusion: There are typical situations in the relations between parents and adolescents with obesity where the parenting style plays a key role and where caregivers can have an important task in supporting the parents in their parent role. These situations need to be given a more central place and opportunity for dialogue in treatment in order to be able to form changes in lifestyle and behaviour in the young.