Department of Human Development, Washington State University, PO Box 644852, Pullman, WA, 99164-4852, USA.
Temple University, Center for Obesity Research and Education, 3223 N. Broad Street, Suite 175, Philadelphia, PA, 19140, USA.
Appetite. 2019 Nov 1;142:104387. doi: 10.1016/j.appet.2019.104387. Epub 2019 Jul 29.
This study focused on the relationship between low-income Latina mothers' perceptions of their preschool children's weight status and maternal feeding practices and styles, also considering the effects of actual child weight status and maternal concern about child weight. A total of 186 low-income Latina mother-child dyads participated. The vast majority of mothers underestimated the weight status of their child, but this varied by child weight status. Although only 30% of mothers of healthy weight children underestimated their child's weight status, 97% of mothers of overweight or obese children did so. No mother overestimated her child's weight status. Contrary to our hypotheses, in most cases, maternal perceptions of child's body weight were not related to maternal feeding styles, nor were many feeding practices predicted by concern about child weight. Instead, children's actual weight status was the strongest predictor of maternal feeding practices and feeding styles. Mothers of children with higher BMI z-scores reported higher levels of healthy eating guidance and responsiveness during feeding and lower levels of pressure to eat, food as reward, and using food to regulate the child's emotions. These mothers were more likely to show an indulgent and less likely to show an authoritarian feeding style. Concern about child weight did not account for any of these significant correlations. Maternal perceptions only mattered for restriction for weight purposes where there were independent effects of both perceived and actual weight status. Implications for understanding the development of child obesity in low-income, Latino populations are considered, along with recommendations for future research and for childhood obesity prevention programs.
本研究关注低收入拉丁裔母亲对其学龄前儿童体重状况的看法与其喂养行为和方式之间的关系，同时也考虑了实际儿童体重状况和母亲对儿童体重的担忧的影响。共有 186 对低收入拉丁裔母子参与了研究。绝大多数母亲低估了孩子的体重状况，但这因孩子的体重状况而异。尽管只有 30%的健康体重儿童的母亲低估了孩子的体重状况，但 97%的超重或肥胖儿童的母亲都这样做了。没有母亲高估孩子的体重状况。与我们的假设相反，在大多数情况下，母亲对孩子体重的看法与喂养方式无关，也没有多少喂养行为受到对孩子体重的担忧的预测。相反，孩子的实际体重状况是母亲喂养行为和喂养方式的最强预测因素。BMI 得分较高的儿童的母亲报告在喂养过程中更注重健康饮食指导和对孩子的回应，较少给孩子施加进食压力、用食物作为奖励以及用食物来调节孩子的情绪。这些母亲更有可能表现出放纵的喂养方式，而不太可能表现出专制的喂养方式。对孩子体重的担忧并不能解释这些显著的相关性。只有在感知到的和实际的体重状况都有独立影响的情况下，母亲的感知才对限制体重有影响。还考虑了这些发现对理解低收入、拉丁裔人群中儿童肥胖发展的意义，并提出了未来研究和儿童肥胖预防计划的建议。
