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Maternal body image dissatisfaction and BMI change in school-age children

Ofra Duchin1, Constanza Marin2, Mercedes Mora-Plazas2

  • 11Department of Environmental Health Sciences,University of Michigan School of Public Health,Ann Arbor,MI,USA.

Public Health Nutrition
|May 1, 2015
PubMed

Insights

Maternal body image dissatisfaction (BID) influences children's BMI trajectories. Mothers' desire for a thinner child impacted boys' and girls' BMI differently, while mothers' own BID related to increased child BMI gain.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric obesity research
  • Developmental psychology
  • Public health

Background:

  • Parental body image dissatisfaction (BID) is linked to child weight in cross-sectional studies.
  • Predictive relationship between maternal BID and childhood adiposity development remains unclear.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To examine associations between maternal body image dissatisfaction and children's BMI trajectories.
  • Investigate how maternal dissatisfaction with her own or her child's body impacts BMI development.

Main Methods:

  • Longitudinal study of 1523 children (aged 5-12) and their mothers in Bogotá, Colombia.
  • Maternal BID assessed using Stunkard scales; children's height and weight measured annually for 2.5 years.
  • Mixed-effects models with restricted cubic splines analyzed sex- and weight-specific BMI-for-age curves.

Main Results:

  • Maternal desire for a thinner child was associated with increased BMI gain in heavy boys and decreased BMI gain in thin girls.
  • Normal-weight boys with mothers desiring a thinner child showed less BMI gain.
  • Maternal BID with herself positively correlated with children's BMI gain.

Conclusions:

  • Maternal body image dissatisfaction is linked to children's BMI trajectories.
  • Associations are specific to child's sex and weight status.
  • Findings highlight the impact of parental perceptions on child weight development.
Abstract

Keywords:
BMI trajectoriesBody image dissatisfactionMaternal body imageSchoolchildren

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