Examine Predictors of BMI Classification and Perception of Overweght Status of Caregivers of Preschool Children

<p>Since the 1970’s the rate of childhood obesity in the United States has tripled and now one in five school-aged children is obese (Ogden et al., 2016). The childhood obesity epidemic will have medical, social, economic implications for future generations. Risk factors for childhood obesity include genetics, food intake, and physical activity, maternal health during pregnancy, parental weight, maternal employment and sociodemographic influences. This study examined the relationship between caregiver misperception of their preschoolers’ overweight/obese weight status and possible predictors that may assist in future interventions. The study evaluated NHANES data of 1245 caregivers with a child under age five in their household and 825 children ages two to five in the years 2015 and 2016. The predictors of body mass index (BMI) categories of overweight and obese in an adult caregiver of children under age five and preschool children age two to five were examined. The analyses included descriptive statistics, correlations and multinomial logistic regressions.</p> <p>The 61.1% of adults with a child in the household under age five reported “I think I am overweight” are in the obese BMI category and only 30.6% of the overweight adults perceived themselves as “I think I am overweight”. The caregivers who completed a questionnaire about their preschool child, 11.7% reported “think your child weight is about right” when the child’s BMI was in the obese category and 16.0 % of the children in the overweight BMI category were incorrectly identified by their caregiver as “about right”. The adult group’s perception of their own weight as well as their child’s weight was miscategorized.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Health Services Research

Year dc:date.available

2019

Author dc:creator

• Chopp, Beth H.

Contributors dc:contributor

• Muge Akpinar-Elci
• Praveen Durgampudi
• Hazida Galadima

• Childhood obesity
• Perception
• Predictors
• Health and Physical Education
• Public Health Education and Promotion

Identifier

9781392804810

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:digitalcommons.odu.edu:healthservices_etds-1084