Maternal perceptions of their child’s weight status: the GENESIS study

Public Health Nutrition

Yannis Manios¹  Katerina Kondaki¹  Evangelia Grammatikaki¹  Georgia Kourlaba¹  Emilia Vasilopoulou¹ 

关键词: Body mass index;    Pre-school children;    Mothers;    Misclassification;    Obesity;   

DOI  :  10.1017/S1368980008004412

学科分类：卫生学

来源: Cambridge University Press

【 摘 要 】

ObjectiveThe objective of the present work was to quantify mothers’ misclassification of pre-school children’s weight status and to determine factors associated with the maternal misperception.DesignA representative sample of 2287 children aged 2–5 years was examined (GENESIS study). Mothers’ perceptions of their child’s weight status and the children’s and mothers’ anthropometric and other characteristics (sociodemographic and lifestyle) were recorded.ResultsAlmost 38 % of mothers underestimated their child’s weight status. The frequency of underestimation was much higher among ‘at risk of being overweight’ and ‘overweight’ children (88·3 % and 54·5 %, respectively) compared with ‘underweight/normal-weight’ children (18·0 %, P < 0·001). Multiple logistic regression modelling revealed that the likelihood of mothers’ underestimation of their child’s weight status was significantly higher in boys, in children engaging in physical activity for less than 3 h/week and in children whose mothers had low education status, compared with their counterparts. Moreover, the higher the BMI-for-age Z-score, the greater the odds that the mother would underestimate her child’s weight status.ConclusionsThe current study demonstrated that more than one-third of mothers misclassify their children’s weight status as being lower than the actual. Given that mother’s weight perception might be an important determinant of child’s body weight development, clinicians and health professionals should help mothers correctly classify their children’s weight status, which could potentially help in the early prevention of overweight and obesity.

【 授权许可】

Unknown