Maternal concern and perceptions of overweight in Australian preschool‐aged children

Objective: To assess maternal concern about overweight in Australian preschool‐aged children and factors predicting maternal concern about children's current and future weight status. Design: Cross‐sectional survey of child's body mass index and parent questionnaire. Setting: Participants:...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Medical journal of Australia 2006-03, Vol.184 (6), p.274-277
Main Authors: Campbell, Michele W‐C, Williams, Joanne, Hampton, Anne, Wake, Melissa
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Biological and medical sciences
Body Mass Index
Child, Preschool
Children & youth
Cohort Studies
Cross-Sectional Studies
Environment and public health
Families & family life
Fathers - psychology
Female
General aspects
Health care
Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice
Health Surveys
Humans
Longitudinal studies
Male
Maternal & child health
Medical sciences
Metabolic diseases
Mothers
Mothers - psychology
Mothers - statistics & numerical data
Nutrition research
Obesity
Obesity - diagnosis
Obesity - epidemiology
Obesity - psychology
Overweight
Parents & parenting
Pediatric medicine
Preschool education
Prevalence
Questionnaires
Sex Distribution
Social Perception
Software
Victoria - epidemiology
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Summary:Objective: To assess maternal concern about overweight in Australian preschool‐aged children and factors predicting maternal concern about children's current and future weight status. Design: Cross‐sectional survey of child's body mass index and parent questionnaire. Setting: Participants: A community‐based cohort of 324 4‐year‐old children and their parents. Main outcome measures: Mothers’ reports of concern about the child's current and future weight status, and perceptions of the child's weight, diet and activity relative to their peers were compared with the child's measured weight status, and parent and child characteristics. Results: The prevalence of overweight or obesity was 19%, but only 5% of mothers indicated concern about their child being currently overweight, while 16% worried their child would become overweight. Over 70% of mothers of overweight children saw them as being of similar weight to their peers. Most mothers saw their children as being equally or more active than other children and having a diet at least as healthy as their peers. Overweight daughters were more likely to elicit maternal concern about current weight than overweight sons (relative risk, 4.6; 95% CI, 1.1–19.8). Mothers were more likely to worry about their child's potential for future overweight if they or the child's father were overweight. Conclusions: Despite mounting public concern about childhood obesity in Australia, most mothers surveyed were not concerned about their child's weight, and many mothers did not perceive their overweight children as different from their peers. This may have implications for interventions that rely on acknowledgement of child overweight as a first step to change.
ISSN:0025-729X
1326-5377
DOI:10.5694/j.1326-5377.2006.tb00236.x