Is Childhood Overweight/Obesity Perceived as a Health Problem by Mothers of Preschool Aged Children in Bangladesh? A Community Level Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Childhood obesity is rapidly rising in many developing countries such as Bangladesh; however, the factors responsible for this increase are not well understood. Being the primary caregivers of children, particularly in developing countries, maternal perceptions and knowledge could be important factors influencing the weight status of children. This study aimed to assess maternal perceptions of childhood obesity and associated socio-demographic factors in Bangladesh. A cross-sectional study using stratified random sampling was conducted among 585 mothers whose children aged 4 to 7 years attended preschools in a district town. Body Mass Index of the children was calculated and weight status categorized according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) criteria. Maternal perceptions were assessed using a self- or interviewer-administered questionnaire. Multinomial logistic regression was used to obtain crude and adjusted odds ratios. Fourteen percent of children were overweight or obese and approximately 30% were underweight. Only 3.1% of children were perceived as overweight/obese by their mothers. Over one-third (35%) of mothers perceived that childhood overweight/obesity could be a health problem and over two-thirds (68.6%) were not aware of any health consequences of childhood obesity. Maternal perceptions were significantly associated with maternal education, family income, and weight status of the child but were not associated with the sex of the child. We have identified knowledge gaps regarding maternal perception of childhood obesity and its contributing factors in a developing country. These findings can be used to develop and test parent-focused educational interventions for preventing childhood obesity in Bangladesh.

Perceptions and Approaches of Mothers Towards the Weight of Their Overweight and Obese Child

“…In this study, the mothers who had high school education and above and the mothers who had normal weight according to body mass index perceived their children's weight more accurately, and there was a significant difference between mother 's educational status, mother' s body mass index and mother 's perception of her child' s weight. Similar to our research findings, Hossain et al (2019) expressed that mothers perceived the child's weight more accurately as their educational status increased (20). It is seen that the education level of the mothers is important for their children to perceive their weight correctly.…”

“…In the study of Carrillo-Larco (2017), the overlap between the mothers' perceptions and the actual weight of the child was very low and that the chubby child was considered as a healthy child (1). Hossain et al (2019) asserted that more than twothirds of mothers were not aware that obesity was a health problem in childhood (20). Lindsay et al (2010) found that the majority of mothers were of the opinion that having a chubby child meant being a good parent which was due to familial and cultural influence, and that some of the mothers perceived their children as skinny even if they had normal weight (13).…”

High prevalence of childhood overweight and obesity in ten Caribbean countries: 2018 cross-sectional data and a narrative review of trends in Trinidad and Tobago

“…Unfortunately, ethnic comparisons were not available for any of the other studies; although ethnic differences regarding both risk for and prevalence of obesity are well known (Haslam et al 2006). There is the notion that parents in developing countries prefer children with a higher BMI, likely due to cultural and historical influences where families would have struggled to provide food for several hungry mouths (Hossain et al 2019). Lutchmansingh et al studied body image perception in 11-16 year old Trinidadian children and found that boys perceived their body image in agreement with their BMI classification, whereas girls tended to view their body image as heavier than their actual BMI classification (Lutchmansingh et al 2014).…”

Maternal perception of child weight and concern about child overweight mediates the relationship between child weight and non-responsive feeding practices

“…preprint (which was not certified by peer review) is the author/funder, who has granted medRxiv a license to display the preprint in The copyright holder for this this version posted November 18, 2020. ; https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.11.16.20232421 doi: medRxiv preprint the variance. In contrast, mothers tend to consider a relatively high child weight as an indicator of good health, especially in China [52][53][54]. They thus may be less concerned about child overweight than mothers in other countries.…”