Maternal concern and perceptions of overweight in Australian preschool‐aged children

• Published in: Medical journal of Australia 2006-03, Vol.184 (6), p.274-277
• Main Authors: Campbell, Michele W‐C, Williams, Joanne, Hampton, Anne, Wake, Melissa
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Biological and medical sciences; Body Mass Index; Child, Preschool; Children & youth; Cohort Studies; Cross-Sectional Studies; Environment and public health; Families & family life; Fathers - psychology; Female; General aspects; Health care; Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; Health Surveys; Humans; Longitudinal studies; Male; Maternal & child health; Medical sciences; Metabolic diseases; Mothers; Mothers - psychology; Mothers - statistics & numerical data; Nutrition research; Obesity; Obesity - diagnosis; Obesity - epidemiology; Obesity - psychology; Overweight; Parents & parenting; Pediatric medicine; Preschool education; Prevalence; Questionnaires; Sex Distribution; Social Perception; Software; Victoria - epidemiology
• ISSN: 0025-729X; 1326-5377
• DOI: 10.5694/j.1326-5377.2006.tb00236.x

Objective: To assess maternal concern about overweight in Australian preschool‐aged children and factors predicting maternal concern about children's current and future weight status. Design: Cross‐sectional survey of child's body mass index and parent questionnaire. Setting: Participants: A community‐based cohort of 324 4‐year‐old children and their parents. Main outcome measures: Mothers’ reports of concern about the child's current and future weight status, and perceptions of the child's weight, diet and activity relative to their peers were compared with the child's measured weight status, and parent and child characteristics. Results: The prevalence of overweight or obesity was 19%, but only 5% of mothers indicated concern about their child being currently overweight, while 16% worried their child would become overweight. Over 70% of mothers of overweight children saw them as being of similar weight to their peers. Most mothers saw their children as being equally or more active than other children and having a diet at least as healthy as their peers. Overweight daughters were more likely to elicit maternal concern about current weight than overweight sons (relative risk, 4.6; 95% CI, 1.1–19.8). Mothers were more likely to worry about their child's potential for future overweight if they or the child's father were overweight. Conclusions: Despite mounting public concern about childhood obesity in Australia, most mothers surveyed were not concerned about their child's weight, and many mothers did not perceive their overweight children as different from their peers. This may have implications for interventions that rely on acknowledgement of child overweight as a first step to change.