title: Maternal attitudes and child-feeding practices: relationship with the BMI of Chilean children.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Chile has experienced the nutritional transition due to both social and economic progress. As a consequence, higher rates of overweight and obesity have been observed in children. In western countries, researchers have tried to determine pathways by which parents influence their children's eating behavior; up to now findings have been inconsistent. The objective of this study was to evaluate the cross-sectional and retrospective relationship between maternal attitudes and child-feeding practices and children's weight status in children who had been subject of an obesity prevention intervention for two years.
  
  
  METHODS
  In 2006, for a cross-sectional study, a random sample of 232 children (125 girls, mean age 11.91 +/- 1.56 y and 107 boys mean age 11.98 +/- 1.51 y) was selected from three primary schools from a small city called Casablanca. Weight and height were determined to assess their nutritional status, using body mass index (BMI) z scores. Child-feeding practices and attitudes were determined cross-sectionally in 2006, using the Child Feeding Questionnaire (CFQ). To analyze the relationship between trends in weight change and child-feeding practices and attitudes, BMI z scores of all the 232 children in 2003 were used.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Cross-sectionally, mothers of overweight children were significantly more concerned (P < 0.01) about their child's weight. Mothers of normal weight sons used significantly more pressure to eat (P < 0.05). Only in boys, the BMI z score was positively correlated with concern for child's weight (r = 0.28, P < 0.05) and negatively with pressure to eat (r = -0.21, P < 0.05). Retrospectively, the change in BMI z score between age 9 and 12 was positively correlated with concern for child's weight, but only in boys (r = 0.21, P < 0.05). Perceived child weight and concern for child's weight, explained 37% in boys and 45% in girls of the variance in BMI z score at age 12.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Mothers of overweight children were more concerned with their children's weight; this indicated the Western negative attitude towards childhood overweight. None of the child-feeding practices were significantly correlated with a change in BMI z score.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Health Sciences, VU University, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. mulderc@kncvtbc.nl
authors.forename: Christiaan
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Mulder
authors.forename: Juliana
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kain
authors.forename: Ricardo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Uauy
authors.forename: Jaap C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Seidell
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001294:Attitude to Health; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002648:Child; D002677:Chile; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009035:Mothers; D009765:Obesity / Q000517:prevention & control*; D012189:Retrospective Studies
references.citation: Pediatrics. 2001 Jun;107(6):E95
references.pmid: 11389293
references.citation: MCN Am J Matern Child Nurs. 2008 Nov-Dec;33(6):376-81
references.pmid: 18997574
references.citation: Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord. 2004 Nov;28 Suppl 3:S2-9
references.pmid: 15543214
references.citation: BMJ. 2002 Jun 15;324(7351):1416
references.pmid: 12068865
references.citation: Res Publ Assoc Res Nerv Ment Dis. 1983;60:115-20
references.pmid: 6823524
references.citation: J Nutr. 1998 Sep;128(9):1464-73
references.pmid: 9732306
references.citation: Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord. 2004 Apr;28(4):483-93
references.pmid: 14993915
references.citation: Obes Res. 2005 Dec;13(12):2178-86
references.pmid: 16421353
references.citation: Am J Clin Nutr. 2000 May;71(5):1054-61
references.pmid: 10799366
references.citation: Appetite. 2006 Jul;47(1):100-6
references.pmid: 16682098
references.citation: Obes Res. 2004 Nov;12(11):1711-22
references.pmid: 15601964
references.citation: Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord. 1999 Mar;23 Suppl 2:S2-11
references.pmid: 10340798
references.citation: Appetite. 2001 Jun;36(3):201-10
references.pmid: 11358344
references.citation: Vital Health Stat 11. 2002 May;(246):1-190
references.pmid: 12043359
references.citation: Am J Clin Nutr. 2002 Mar;75(3):581-6
references.pmid: 11864866
references.citation: Pediatrics. 2004 Oct;114(4):e429-36
references.pmid: 15466068
references.citation: J Nutr. 1998 Feb;128(2 Suppl):407S-410S
references.pmid: 9478037
references.citation: Br J Nutr. 2008 Feb;99 Suppl 1:S22-5
references.pmid: 18257948
references.citation: Matern Child Nutr. 2005 Jul;1(3):164-8
references.pmid: 16881896
references.citation: Pediatrics. 2000 Mar;105(3 Pt 1):671-80
references.pmid: 10699131
references.citation: Obes Res. 2001 May;9(5):306-12
references.pmid: 11346672
references.citation: Pediatrics. 1999 Jun;103(6 Pt 1):1175-82
references.pmid: 10353925
references.citation: Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2004 Jan;158(1):27-33
references.pmid: 14706954
references.citation: Pediatrics. 2008 Jan;121(1):e164-9
references.pmid: 18166535
references.citation: BMJ. 1997 Feb 22;314(7080):572
references.pmid: 9055718
references.citation: Nutr Rev. 2004 Jul;62(7 Pt 2):S140-3
references.pmid: 15387480
references.citation: J Biosoc Sci. 2009 Jan;41(1):21-37
references.pmid: 18847525
references.citation: Lancet. 2002 Aug 10;360(9331):473-82
references.pmid: 12241736
references.citation: J Am Diet Assoc. 2005 Sep;105(9):1411-6
references.pmid: 16129082
references.citation: J Pediatr. 2006 Mar;148(3):314-20
references.pmid: 16615957
references.citation: J Hum Nutr Diet. 2002 Oct;15(5):355-64
references.pmid: 12270016
references.citation: Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2003 Sep;157(9):926-32
references.pmid: 12963600
references.citation: J Am Diet Assoc. 2004 Feb;104(2):215-21
references.pmid: 14760569