Killion Lorraine, Hughes Sheryl O, Wendt Janice C, Pease Dale, Nicklas Theresa A
Houston Baptist University, Department of Education and Kinesiology, Houston, Texas, USA.
Int J Pediatr Obes. 2006;1(2):96-102. doi: 10.1080/17477160600684286.
To investigate African-American and Hispanic mothers' perceptions of their children's body size using a scale with child figure silhouettes and compare those perceptions with their children's actual body mass index.
A set of child figure silhouettes was developed depicting 4 and 5 year-old African-American and Hispanic children. Body mass index was systematically estimated for each child figure on the set of silhouettes. Minority mothers with children enrolled in ten Head Start centers (n=192) were interviewed using the silhouettes, and height and weight measurements were taken on their children. Head Start, a comprehensive child development program that serves children aged 3 to 5 years old, was chosen because of the large percentage of minorities, the low-income status of the families, and the age of the children.
Significant differences were found between mothers' perceptions of their children's body size and the actual body size of the children. On average, mothers perceived their children to be thinner than their actual size. Furthermore, of those mothers with children at risk for overweight or overweight, two-thirds were either satisfied with their children's existing body size or wanted their children to be heavier. However, half of the mothers of children above the 95th percentile for BMI wanted their children to be thinner.
These data suggest that minority mothers' perceptions of their children's body size may not be consistently biased in one direction. Despite the possible social norm for a larger body size among low-income minorities, some mothers of overweight minority children do perceive their children to be too heavy when they reach a certain size.
使用带有儿童体型轮廓的量表，调查非裔美国人和西班牙裔母亲对其子女体型的认知，并将这些认知与子女的实际体重指数进行比较。
绘制了一组描绘4岁和5岁非裔美国儿童和西班牙裔儿童的体型轮廓图。系统地估算了轮廓图上每个儿童体型的体重指数。使用这些轮廓图对在十个“启智计划”中心（n = 192）入学儿童的少数族裔母亲进行访谈，并测量其子女的身高和体重。之所以选择“启智计划”（一项为3至5岁儿童提供服务的综合儿童发展项目），是因为其中少数族裔比例高、家庭收入低且儿童年龄合适。
母亲对子女体型的认知与子女的实际体型之间存在显著差异。平均而言，母亲认为自己的孩子比实际体型更瘦。此外，在子女有超重风险或超重的母亲中，三分之二要么对孩子现有的体型感到满意，要么希望孩子更胖些。然而，在BMI处于第95百分位以上儿童的母亲中，有一半希望自己的孩子瘦一些。
这些数据表明，少数族裔母亲对子女体型的认知可能并非始终朝着一个方向存在偏差。尽管低收入少数族裔中可能存在体型较大的社会规范，但一些超重少数族裔儿童的母亲在孩子达到一定体型时确实认为他们太重了。
