Maternal and Child Awareness and Expectations of Child Overweight

Abstract

Objective: We investigated mothers’ and children’s assessments of body weight and their expectations about perceived body size in relation to overweight of the children. Methods: We performed a case-control study of 111 cases of overweight children and 149 controls of non-overweight children (mean age 8.1 years) and their mothers. All were examined and interviewed about their assessment of body weight and their perception of a normal, attractive and acceptable body size. Results: Case children were less able than control children to correctly assess their own body weight (p < 0.001), as were mothers of overweight children (MOC) to assess their children’s body weight (p < 0.001). The majority of mothers from both groups wished their children to have a normal body size, but 18% of MOC wished their children to have an overweight body size (p < 0.013). The majority of case children, control children and mothers found a normal body size for boys and girls to be the most attractive and socially acceptable, but more MOC found overweight among boys to be the most attractive (p = 0.006). Conclusion: Overweight children and their mothers show increased uncertainty in the assessment of overweight and obesity, but the perception of a normal, attractive and socially acceptable body size is not distorted.

Children's perceptions of weight, obesity, nutrition, physical activity and related health and socio-behavioural factors

“…This finding is in line with those reported in a recent study of seventeen obese 8-12-year-olds in the US Midwest in which 42 % of these overweight children reported that they were underweight or normal weight (22) . Similar trends have been reported internationally, as demonstrated by a study in China showing that underestimation of childhood overweight is common among both children and mothers in China, particularly for children with the highest BMI (19) , and a European study (23) showing that overweight children were less able than normal weight children to correctly assess their own body weight. In the present study 42?9 % of the children had an accurate estimation that approximately one-third of US children are overweight.…”

Child Overweight – Mothers’ Competence to Take Action

“…Material and methods have previously been described [16] and are dealt with only briefly here. The study was based on the Danish National Birth Cohort (DNBC) [17], a longitudinal large-scale study involving data collection when the children were 7 years old, with a follow-up of the mothers' and the children's current situation, and based on whether the children had or had not become overweight, regardless of the mothers weight.…”

“…When recruiting for the present case-control study in autumn 2007, 11,249 children had turned 7, and data from their follow-up questionnaires were registered. After meeting the inclusion and exclusion criteria (described in [16]), 2,846 pairs were potentially eligible, from which 471 pairs were randomly selected within candidate case and control groups. Of these, 241 pairs were invited to participate as cases and 230 as controls [16].…”

“…After meeting the inclusion and exclusion criteria (described in [16]), 2,846 pairs were potentially eligible, from which 471 pairs were randomly selected within candidate case and control groups. Of these, 241 pairs were invited to participate as cases and 230 as controls [16]. In total, 307 of the 471 pairs participated in the examination (65%).…”

“…Parents who do not recognise weight problems in their children are less likely to take steps to change their children's unhealthy lifestyle and prevent obesity [15]. In the article 'Maternal and Child Awareness and Expectations of Child Overweight', published in this issue of the journal, our objective was to investigate the mothers' and children's perception of body size as a basis for the mothers' assessment of their children's weight status and their awareness of weight problems in their children [16]. Uncertainty in assessing the overweight children was found both for these children and their mothers.…”