Maternal misperceptions of children's overweight in an indigenous Argentinean community

Am J Health Behav. 2015 May;39(3):338-44. doi: 10.5993/AJHB.39.3.6.

Abstract

Objective: To compare the prevalence of misperception between 2 groups of mothers towards their children's weight status from an indigenous population in San Antonio de los Cobres (SAC) and a Buenos Aires (BA) mixed population.

Methods: Questionnaires regarding mothers' perceptions about their children's shape were performed during 2014.

Results: Overall, 152 SAC children (80 males) aged 9.0+2.1 years and 119 BA children (59 males) aged 8.1+1.7 years were evaluated. There was a significant difference in the prevalence of maternal misperception of normal weight vs overweight children in both ethnicities: SAC (38.8% vs 66.7%) and BA (33.3% vs 62.9%).

Conclusion: These results suggest that maternal misperception of children's overweight was poor in both communities despite having different socio-economic and ethnic backgrounds.

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Argentina / ethnology
  • Child
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Mothers / psychology*
  • Overweight / ethnology*
  • Population Groups / ethnology*
  • Social Class
  • Urban Population