Do mothers of overweight Argentinean preschool children perceive them as such?
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Published on: July 29, 2020
Valeria Hirschler1, Claudio Gonzalez, Silvina Talgham
1Nutrition and Diabetes Department, Hospital Durand, Buenos Aires, Argentina. vhirschler@intramed.net
Insights
Mothers often misperceive their children's weight and eating habits, with distorted perceptions being significant predictors of childhood overweight. This highlights a potential tool for identifying at-risk children in clinical settings.
Area of Science:
- Pediatrics
- Public Health
- Childhood Obesity Research
Background:
- Childhood overweight is a growing concern, contributing to earlier onset of conditions like diabetes.
- Accurate assessment of a child's weight status is crucial for early intervention.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the association between childhood overweight and maternal perceptions of their child's shape and eating habits.
- To determine if maternal perception can serve as a predictor for childhood overweight.
Main Methods:
- Evaluated 321 kindergarten-level children (mean age 4.39 years) for weight and height to calculate Body Mass Index (BMI).
- Classified children as overweight (BMI ≥ 95th percentile) or at risk for overweight (BMI ≥ 85th percentile).
- Collected data via maternal questionnaires on perceived child's eating habits and body shape, comparing with objective BMI measurements.
Main Results:
- 19% of children were at risk for overweight and 18.4% were overweight.
- A significant majority of mothers (87.5% for shape, 90.8% for eating habits) of overweight or at-risk children had distorted perceptions, viewing them as normal/thin and eating appropriately.
- Maternal perception of shape and eating habits were significant independent risk factors for overweight (OR 4.5, p < 0.0001).
Conclusions:
- Maternal perception of a child's shape and eating behavior is a significant predictor of childhood overweight.
- Discrepancies between maternal perception and objective BMI measurements were substantial.
- Maternal perception could be a valuable, simple tool for identifying children at high risk for overweight in clinical practice.
Abstract:
Childhood overweight is rapidly on the rise and underlies the younger presentation of diabetes. The aim of this study was to determine the association between overweight and age, sex, and the perception of the overweight children by their mothers. Three hundred and twenty-one (160 males) children (mean age 4.39 +/- SD 0.83 yr) [body mass index (BMI) 16.6 +/- 2.11] from schools at the kindergarten level were evaluated. Data on age, sex, weight, and height were recorded. At risk for overweight and overweight were defined as a BMI of > or = 85th or > or = 95th percentile, respectively. Written questionnaires for mothers' perceptions about their children's eating habits (a lot, right, little, or very little) and shape (very fat, fat, normal, and thin) were performed. The prevalence of at risk of overweight and overweight was 19 and 18.4%, respectively. There was a significant difference in the proportion of distorted perception of shape between mothers of normal-weight children vs. those of at risk of overweight and overweight children (17 vs. 87.5%, p < 0.001). Seventy-six and 98% of mothers of overweight and at risk of overweight children, respectively, rated them as normal or thin. Mothers exhibited poor overall ability to estimate the way at risk of overweight and overweight children ate. There was a significant difference in the proportion of distorted perception of eating habits between mothers of normal-weight children vs. those of at risk of overweight and overweight children (36.3 vs. 90.8%, p < 0.001). Eighty-four and 96% of mothers of obese and overweight children, respectively, thought that their children ate right or little. A multiple regression analysis using BMI > 95th percentile as the dependent variable showed that the mothers' perceptions of shape and eating habits [odds ratio 4.5; 95% confidence interval (CI) 2.5-7.8; p < 0.0001] were both significant independent risk factors for overweight, adjusted for age and sex. The agreement between the perception of shape and eating habits vs. the medical records BMI > 95th percentile was poor; for shape: kappa 0.31 + 0.07; 95% CI 0.17-0.44, and for nutrition: 0.14 + 0.06; 95% CI 0.02-0.27. This suggests that the mothers' perceptions of shape and eating behavior is a predictor of obesity and could be used in clinical practice as a simple tool to identify children at high risk for overweight.
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