A majority of Kuwaiti mothers were unable to correctly perceive their children's weight status, especially for their male, overweight children. Two-thirds of the mothers had a plan to control their weight if the children become obese. The child's age, the child and mother's body weight, and the mother's correct perception mainly affected the selection of the plan.

Background: Anemia is a major nutritional health problem throughout the world. Objectives: To determine the prevalence and the factors associated with anemia among Kuwaiti children aged 4-5 years. Design: A sample of 578 Kuwaiti preschool children (4-5 years of age) and their mothers were selected from ongoing Kuwait Nutrition Surveillance System from September 2003 to June 2004. Mothers participated in an interview where demographic; health and nutrition information was collected. Anthropometrical data and blood sample were also collected for children and mothers; anemia was defined as hemoglobin <11 g/dl for children and <12 g/dl for mothers. Results: The risk of having anemia was 1.8 times more in children aged 5 years than in children aged 4 years; a moderately/severely stunted child was 2.3 times prone to be anemic than a normal child; a moderately/severely overweight child was less likely to be anemic; a child who was breastfed for less than one month was 2.8 times more at risk of being anemic than a child who was breastfed for more than 6 months; a child who was given cereals as a weaning food was 3.5 times of becoming anemic than a child given meat and egg as a weaning food. Children of mothers whose age was <30 years, and children of anemic mothers were more likely to become anemic. Conclusions: Anemia remains a common health problem for Kuwaiti preschool children and further studies are needed to focus on etiologies and interventions.

Objectives: To determine if breastfeeding and its duration are associated with a reduced risk of obesity among Kuwaiti preschool children. Subjects and Methods: The sample consisted of 2,291 (1,092 males and 1,199 females) preschool children (3–6 years of age) and their mothers. The data were collected from September 2003 to June 2004. Height and weight measurements were used for defining weight status while other data were collected by questionnaire. Results: There was no significant association of breastfeeding or its duration with either overweight or obesity among preschool children after adjusting for effects of the confounders. The child’s gender, age and birth weight were the significant factors influencing current weight. Girls were at 32% higher risk of becoming obese than boys. Children aged 4–5 years were at nearly 3 times higher risk of overweight and obesity than children of less than 4 years. Children with higher birth weight (≥4 kg) had double the risk of obesity than those of normal birth weight (≥2.5 to <4.0 kg). Maternal obesity was a strong predictor of obesity in the children. A child with an obese mother had nearly 2 times higher risk of being overweight (BMI between the 85th the 95th percentiles) and 3 times of being obese (BMI ≥95th percentile) compared to a child born to a mother with a normal body weight. Conclusion: Breastfeeding and its duration are not associated with obesity status. However, there is a positive association between child and maternal obesity.

Objective:This study aimed to report the WHO infant and young child feeding (IYCF) indicators from Kuwait and to investigate the associations between these indicators and anthropometric measurements.Design:The Kuwait Nutritional Surveillance System uses observational cross-sectional approach to collects data by face-to-face interviews with mothers or child guardians using a structured questionnaire that was developed based on the WHO IYCF indicators. The weight and height of infants and young children were measured using digital scales in a standardised manner.Setting:Vaccination centres in all governorates (provinces) of Kuwait.Participants:Infants and young Kuwaiti children aged 0–23 months (N 5839).Results:The prevalence of exclusive breastfeeding and age-appropriate breastfeeding were 8·0 and 7·4 %, respectively. The prevalence of stunting and wasting was 7·5 and 2·4 %, respectively, while the prevalence of overweight and obesity was 6·5 and 1·6 %, respectively. In the multivariable analysis, exclusive breastfeeding and age-appropriate breastfeeding were more common in children with stunted growth (AOR 1·71 (95 % CI 1·08, 2·70; P = 0·021) and 1·44 (95 % CI 1·01, 2·06; P = 0·046), respectively). The introduction of solid/semisolid or soft foods was inversely associated with stunting (AOR 0·52; 95 % CI 0·30, 0·90; P = 0·021). Only age-appropriate breastfeeding was inversely associated with overweight (AOR 0·62; 95 % CI 0·39, 0·98; P = 0·043).Conclusion:Our findings showed that indicators of breastfeeding are low in Kuwait. Our findings suggest that the associations between different WHO IYCF indicators and stunting as well as overweight is complex, which highlights the need for a better understanding of WHO IYCF indicators in both low- and high-income countries.