title: Mothers' perceptions of overweight and obesity in their children.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Childhood obesity is a growing health concern and the literature implicates parents, particularly mothers.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To develop understandings into the views of a group of mothers with an overweight or obese child, about their child's overweight or obesity.
  
  
  METHODS
  A qualitative design informed by feminist insights. Eleven English speaking mothers of at least one overweight or obese child were drawn from a large urban community in metropolitan Australia to participate in this study.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Participants attributed their child's obesity to factors such as slow metabolism, sedentary lifestyle, familial or cultural factors, genetics, eating habits such as not drinking enough water, or not chewing food adequately. Participants were very concerned about their child's weight problems and their immediate concerns focussed on social problems associated with obesity/overweight.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Understanding parental views about their children's overweight and obesity is a key step in forming effective liaisons between health professionals and parents.
authors.affiliation: School of Nursing, Family and Community Health, College of Social and Health Sciences, University of Western Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. debra.jackson@uws.edu.au
authors.forename: Debra
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Jackson
authors.forename: Glenda
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: McDonald
authors.forename: Judy
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Mannix
authors.forename: Pat
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Faga
authors.forename: Angela
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Firtko
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015444:Exercise; D005260:Female; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease / Q000523:psychology; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008019:Life Style; D008297:Male; D009035:Mothers / Q000523:psychology*; D009765:Obesity / Q000235:genetics / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000523:psychology; D050177:Overweight; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D036301:Qualitative Research; D012938:Social Perception