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Parental Perception of Child's Weight Affects Child's Feeding Practices
Author(s) -
Lora Karina Regina,
Quesada Catalina,
Wakefield Dorothy B,
Ferris Ann M
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.25.1_supplement.99.3
Subject(s) - underweight , overweight , anthropometry , percentile , affect (linguistics) , medicine , child obesity , demographics , demography , childhood obesity , obesity , overeating , cross sectional study , weight for age , psychology , pediatrics , communication , sociology , statistics , mathematics , pathology
This study tested the hypothesis that child's weight may affect parental feeding practices. A cross‐sectional study conducted at pre‐schools in Hartford, CT, included 94 poor parents of 3–5 y. old children. Participants provided demographic and anthropometric data, and completed the Preschooler Feeding Questionnaire (PFQ) (Baughcum et al, 2001). Factor analysis of the PFQ retained eight factors for 33 questions. Two factors paralleled those of Baughcum et al. Kruskal‐Wallis tested significance between demographics and child's BMI percentile. No demographic variables were significantly related to child's BMI percentile (P>.05). BMI along with demographic variables were entered into stepwise regression models for each factor. As BMI decreased, parents reported higher difficulty in child feeding and concern about the child being underweight (factor 1), higher use of food to calm the child (factor 3), higher age‐inappropriate feeding practices (factor 4), and higher child centric feeding and use of rewards (factor 7). As BMI increased, parents reported higher concern about the child overeating or being overweight (factor 2) (P<.05). Parental perception of child's weight may influence parental feeding practices by regulating child's eating. Grant Funding Source : USDA/NRI 2008‐55215‐19071