What a mother thinks about her child's weight status, perceiving healthy or overweight might influence concern about child weight and in turn what and how she feeds her child. We examined the association between maternal perception, concern and dissatisfaction with child weight alongside feeding practices. Participants were from the Generation XXI birth cohort (n=3233). A validated version of the Child Feeding Questionnaire and the Overt/Covert Control scale were used. Mothers self-reported perception, level of concern and dissatisfaction with child weight using a Likert scale. Associations were evaluated cross-sectionally at ages 4 and 7 years by linear regression models (β̂ coefficients and 95% confidence intervals (95%CI) with Bonferroni correction). Perceived underweight was associated with practices promoting food intake, such as higher pressure to eat at ages 4 and 7 years (β̂=0.229;95%CI:0.059,0.398 and β̂=0.190;95%CI:0.005,0.376, respectively) and lower restriction at age 4 (β̂=-0.175;95%CI:-0.0310,-0.039). At age 7, perceived overweight was associated with higher covert control (β̂=0.203;95%CI:0.029,0.376). Mothers who were concerned about child weight reported higher restriction (β̂=0.226;95%CI:0.142,0.310 at 4y and β̂=0.261;95%CI:0.169,0.353 at 7y) and covert control (β̂=0.183;95%CI:0.083,0.282 at 4y and β̂=0.171;95%CI:0.073,0.269 at 7y). Maternal desire for a heavier child was associated with higher pressure to eat at both ages (β̂=0.285;95%CI:0.163,0.406 at 4y and β̂=0.393;95%CI:0.266,0.520 at 7y), while the desire for a thinner child was related to higher covert control at 7 years of age (β̂=0.158; 95%CI:0.001,0.316). Maternal perceptions and concern for child weight status are associated with feeding practices independently of actual weight status.
CORE (COnnecting REpositories)
CORE (COnnecting REpositories)