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Does maternal concern about children's weight affect children's body size perception at the age of 6.5?—A community-based study

International Journal of Obesity volume 32, pages 1001–1007 (2008)Cite this article

Abstract

Objective

Though overweight is often established by school entry, not all mothers of such children report weight concerns. Enhancing concern might assist lifestyle change, but could lead to child body dissatisfaction. We investigated (i) perceived/desired body size and body dissatisfaction in mothers and their 6.5-year-old children, and (ii) the impact of earlier maternal concern about overweight on children's body mass index (BMI) status and body dissatisfaction.

Design

Prospective community study.

Setting

Melbourne, Australia.

Subjects

317 mother–child dyads.

Main exposures

Child and maternal BMI (kg m−2) at 4.0 and 6.5 years; maternal concern about child overweight at 4.0 years.

Outcome measures

Paired perceived and desired body size on 7-point figural rating scales self-reported by mothers and children, and reported by mothers regarding children; dissatisfaction (‘desired’ minus ‘perceived’) score.

Results

For all three actual BMI perceived size pairings (mother self-report, mother's report on child and child self-report), BMI correlated with perceived body size (r=0.82 (mother self-report); r=0.65 (mother reporting on child); r=0.22 (child self-report); all P<0.001). Similarly, all three dissatisfaction scores were greater with increasing BMI status. Children's own dissatisfaction scores correlated with their actual BMI, but were not related to mothers’ own body dissatisfaction scores or with mothers’ dissatisfaction with children's body size. Maternal concern about overweight at the age of 4 years was not associated with BMI change, or child body dissatisfaction by the age of 6.5. Most mothers of overweight and obese children (88 and 90%, respectively) regarded their child as the middle figure (that is, 4) or thinner.

Conclusions

Despite low rates of recognition of child overweight, maternal perceptions of the child's body correlated strongly with the child's actual BMI. Maternal concerns about child BMI did not appear to impact on child BMI change or child body dissatisfaction.

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Acknowledgements

This paper draws on data from a larger longitudinal study, the PEAS Kids Growth Study. RM worked on and MW supervised all phases of the work leading to this paper; MW founded the PEAS Study, and has been a Chief Investigator in all phases; LC conducted all statistical analyses and prepared the tables; JW was the Principal Investigator for the PEAS Kids Growth Study (4.0- to 6.5-year-old waves) and advised on the paper. RM, MW and LC co-wrote and JW edited the paper. We thank all the parents and children who took part in the study, and the research assistants who assisted with data collection. We also acknowledge the major role of Dr Michele Campbell (PhD student) in the 4.0- to -6.5-year-old wave of the PEAS Kids Growth Study.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Community Child Health, Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne, Australia

    R Mitchell, M Wake, L Canterford & J Williams

  2. Murdoch Childrens Research Institute, Melbourne, Australia

    M Wake, L Canterford & J Williams

  3. Department of Pediatrics, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia

    M Wake

  4. Centre for Adolescent Health, Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne, Australia

    J Williams

Authors
  1. R Mitchell
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  2. M Wake
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  3. L Canterford
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  4. J Williams
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to R Mitchell.

Additional information

Financial Disclosures:

The PEAS Kids Growth Study 4.0- to -6.5-year-old waves were funded by the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC Project Grant 284509) and the Murdoch Childrens Research Institute. Dr Wake's salary is part-funded by NHMRC Population Health Career Development Award no. 284556. There are no competing interests.

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Mitchell, R., Wake, M., Canterford, L. et al. Does maternal concern about children's weight affect children's body size perception at the age of 6.5?—A community-based study. Int J Obes 32, 1001–1007 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/ijo.2008.12

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