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Do Low‐income Mothers and Fathers of Preschool Children Share Similar Concerns and Perception About Their Child's Body Weight?
Author(s) -
Vollmer Rachel,
Adamsons Kari,
Foster Jaime,
Mobley Amy
Publication year - 2015
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.29.1_supplement.731.15
Subject(s) - child obesity , body mass index , ethnic group , obesity , childhood obesity , perception , developmental psychology , psychology , demography , low income , medicine , overweight , pathology , neuroscience , sociology , anthropology , socioeconomics
The aims of this pilot study were to determine if both mothers' and fathers'1) concern for child's future weight, 2) child weight perception, and 3) concern for child's eating too much are related to actual child's weight. Low‐income father‐mother dyads (n=76) were recruited to participate in an individual interview to assess concern for their child's future weight, perception of their child's current weight, and concern about their child eating too much (Child Feeding Questionnaire). Height and weight for each father, mother, and child were measured and Body Mass Index (BMI) or BMI z‐score were calculated. Linear regression was used to test each of the study aims, with parent education level, race, ethnicity, and BMI as covariates. This study found that mother (β= .33, p<0.001) and father (β= .31, p= 0.001) concern for child's future weight, mother (β= 1.21, p= 0.002) and father (β= .1.29, p<0.001) perception of child's current weight, and mother (β= .30, p= 0.007) and father concern (β= .30, p= 0.014) for child's eating too much were all positively related to child's BMI z‐score. These data suggest that low‐income mothers and fathers may have similar concerns about their child's weight, and thus, reinforce the need to consider the role of fathers in obesity prevention efforts.