Background: The prevention of overweight is a high-priority public health task. The perception that parents have of their children’s nutritional status is a well recognized risk factor for obesity in children, so the aim of our study was to evaluate mothers’ perceptions of their children’s nutritional status. Methods: We conducted, in 2016, a cross-sectional study enrolling1710 children (third grade of all primary schools ) in Tuscany, as well as their mothers. Mothers’ information were collected through a self-administered questionnaire, while children (weighed and measured) filled a questionnaire under the supervision of qualified personnel. Results: 1449 children completed the questionnaire. 74.12% of mothers were able to correctly identify children BMI. The non correct classification tends to significantly decrease in presence of a high educational level compared to low educational level. Mothers’ BMI seems to not be associated with misclassification. The non correct classification was significantly associated with mothers’ opinion about their children’s eating habit. Conclusion: Our data confirmed that, in Tuscany, a limited percentage of mothers tend to misclassify the nutritional state of their children, but in order to maintain these encouraging results, further efforts should be done in order to make all mothers able to correctly evaluate their children.

Troiano, G., Trombetta, C.M., Manini, I., Simi, R., Meoni, V., Lazzeri, G. (2020). Evaluation of maternal perception of children's weight and body mass index in tuscany, Italy. EPIDEMIOLOGY BIOSTATISTICS AND PUBLIC HEALTH, 17(1), 1-6 [10.2427/13216].

Evaluation of maternal perception of children's weight and body mass index in tuscany, Italy

Troiano, G.;Trombetta, C. M.;Manini, I.;Simi, R.;Lazzeri, G.
2020-01-01

Abstract

Background: The prevention of overweight is a high-priority public health task. The perception that parents have of their children’s nutritional status is a well recognized risk factor for obesity in children, so the aim of our study was to evaluate mothers’ perceptions of their children’s nutritional status. Methods: We conducted, in 2016, a cross-sectional study enrolling1710 children (third grade of all primary schools ) in Tuscany, as well as their mothers. Mothers’ information were collected through a self-administered questionnaire, while children (weighed and measured) filled a questionnaire under the supervision of qualified personnel. Results: 1449 children completed the questionnaire. 74.12% of mothers were able to correctly identify children BMI. The non correct classification tends to significantly decrease in presence of a high educational level compared to low educational level. Mothers’ BMI seems to not be associated with misclassification. The non correct classification was significantly associated with mothers’ opinion about their children’s eating habit. Conclusion: Our data confirmed that, in Tuscany, a limited percentage of mothers tend to misclassify the nutritional state of their children, but in order to maintain these encouraging results, further efforts should be done in order to make all mothers able to correctly evaluate their children.
2020
Troiano, G., Trombetta, C.M., Manini, I., Simi, R., Meoni, V., Lazzeri, G. (2020). Evaluation of maternal perception of children's weight and body mass index in tuscany, Italy. EPIDEMIOLOGY BIOSTATISTICS AND PUBLIC HEALTH, 17(1), 1-6 [10.2427/13216].
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11365/1112964
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