Parental Perception of Preschool Child Body Weight1
Section snippets
Review of Literature
Many intrapersonal, interpersonal, and environmental factors have influenced the dramatic increase in early-childhood weight problems over the past few decades (Davison and Birch, 2001, Doolen et al., 2009, Reifsnider et al., 2006b, Zeller and Daniels, 2004). Research related to childhood nutrition issues often focus on interventions to improve children's diet and exercise patterns (Davison and Birch, 2001, Towns and D'Auria, 2009). Although this research is beneficial, there is still a need
Purpose and Research Questions
The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships among parental perception of child body weight, sense of parental efficacy, health literacy, and selected demographic factors in parents of preschool children. Research questions for this study were the following: (a) What is the parent's perception of the preschool child's body weight? And (b) what factors are associated with the accuracy of a parent's perception of his or her child's body weight?
Theoretical Framework
The Revised Health Belief Model (Roden, 2004a, Roden, 2004b) served as the theoretical framework for this study because it takes into account the integral part that parents play in the development of a child's health behaviors and values. The Revised Health Belief Model (Roden, 2004a) allows nurses to incorporate “positive” health messages into the care of families and children in an attempt to increase the overall effectiveness of health promotion activities. The model, which incorporates the
Methods
This study used a descriptive, correlational, cross-sectional design. Self-report instruments were used to measure perceived parental efficacy, parent's level of health literacy, current level of parental concern for child weight, and current parental perception of child weight. This study was approved by the Institutional Review Board for Protection of Human Subjects at Vanderbilt University. Potential participants were approached by the researcher in the clinic setting, given time to discuss
Research Question 1
Table 2 provides a summary of the parental participants' perceptions of their children's body weight on the day of the clinic visit in comparison with the child's actual BMI category as determined by a standardized CDC growth chart for gender and age. There was no statistically significant difference between the private office group and the health department group on the parents' perception of their child's weight (Mann–Whitney U = 1,774.50, p = .850), nor on the distribution of child body
Discussion
The findings from this study support and validate previous findings about parents' perceptions of preschool child body weight. In this study, nearly 80% of parents perceived their child's weight as appropriate, and 15% felt that their child might be underweight (Table 2). Slightly less than 6% of parents felt that their child was overweight at the time of data collection, whereas based on CDC standards, 17.5% of the children in this study were actually overweight (Table 2). This is consistent
Conclusion
Parents in this sample were relatively unconcerned about weight issues in their children, despite 38.3% (n = 46) of the children being at risk for or already overweight (Table 2). These findings are of concern for health care providers because of a possible link that may exist between a parent's perception of a health problem and the likelihood of taking positive action on behalf of the child. Currently, more than 22 million preschoolers are overweight worldwide (World Health Organization, 2007
Acknowledgments
This research study was supported by a small research grant from the Kappa Theta Chapter of Sigma Theta Tau International. The author wishes to thank her dissertation committee members for their help in completing this study. Committee members included Dr. Tom Cook, Ph.D. (chair), Dr. Mary Jo Gilmer, Ph.D., Dr. Lynda Lamontagne, Ph.D., Dr. Mary Dietrich, Ph.D. and Dr. David Schlundt, Ph.D.
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Clinic and Home-Based Behavioral Intervention for Obesity in Preschoolers: A Randomized Trial
2018, Journal of PediatricsParents′ Underestimations of Child Weight: Implications for Obesity Prevention
2017, Journal of Pediatric NursingCitation Excerpt :Parents were more likely to underestimate overweight status in their boys, incorrectly classifying them as underweight or normal weight (Black et al., 2015; Lundahl et al., 2014; Towns & D'auria, 2009). In one study, Garrett-Wright (2011) added parent health literacy as a predictor variable, finding that lower parent health literacy was significantly associated with parent's inaccurate estimation of child weight status. This first study to include health literacy was conducted using a sample of parents with preschool age children.
Preschool-Age Chinese Children's Weight Status: WHO Classification, Parent Ratings, Child/Family Characteristics
2017, Journal of Pediatric NursingCitation Excerpt :These inconsistencies call for more investigations into the role of parents' weight in their perceptions of their children's weight status. Existing research shows that parents are more likely to see their children who are older, are female, or have higher BMIs, as overweight (Carnell et al., 2005; Christensen, 2011; Eckstein et al., 2006; Garrett-Wright, 2011; Li, Lei, Wen, & Zhou, 2014; Lundahl et al., 2014; Maynard et al., 2003; Towns & D'Auria, 2009). Overall, there is consensus in the literature that parents tend to be inaccurate in rating their children weight status and underestimation of overweight status is common.
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An overview of the findings presented in this article was presented as part of a paper presentation at the Southern Nursing Research Society in Baltimore (February 2009) and at the Sigma Theta Tau International 40th Biennial Convention in Indianapolis (November 2009), and as a poster at the Obesity Treatment and Prevention Conference in Las Vegas (May 2009).