Overweight in Latino Preschoolers: Do Parental Health Beliefs Matter
Methods: Three hundred sixty-nine Mexican immigrant parents of children ages 25 were interviewed. Children were weighed and measured.
Results: Parents underestimated their own child's weight status and had high levels of perceived control over their children's eating and activity behaviors. Parents of overweight (>95ile-for-age-and-sex BMI) versus nonoverweight (<95ile BMI) children did not differ in their beliefs about ideal child body size.
Conclusion: Latino parents of overweight children did not differ from parents of nonoverweight children with respect to their KAB about childhood obesity.
Keywords: Mexican Americans; childhood obesity; health beliefs
Document Type: Research Article
Affiliations: 1 Department of Pediatrics, Hennepin County Medical Center, Minneapolis, MN, and Assistant Professor, Department of Pediatrics, University of Minnesota Medical School, Minneapolis, MN.
Publication date: 01 May 2010
The American Journal of Health Behavior seeks to improve the quality of life through multidisciplinary health efforts in fostering a better understanding of the multidimensional nature of both individuals and social systems as they relate to health behaviors.
The Journal aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of the impact of personal attributes, personality characteristics, behavior patterns, social structure, and processes on health maintenance, health restoration, and health improvement; to disseminate knowledge of holistic, multidisciplinary approaches to designing and implementing effective health programs; and to showcase health behavior analysis skills that have been proven to affect health improvement and recovery.
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