scholarly journals Hispanic Maternal Perception of Preschoolers’ Bodyweight Status in Samples from the United States of America and Mexico

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_2) ◽  
pp. 1101-1101
Author(s):  
Summer Wilmoth ◽  
Yolanda Flores-Peña ◽  
Leah Carrillo ◽  
Elana Martinez ◽  
Erica Sosa ◽  
...  

Abstract Objectives Childhood obesity is a major public health concern, which disproportionally affects Hispanic children in the United States (US) and Mexico. Mothers are key influencers to their children's health and growth. As part of a pilot obesity prevention study, Hispanic mothers’ perception of their preschoolers’ weight status was assessed to inform the development of intervention strategies. Methods Study subjects were Hispanic mothers and their preschoolers between the ages of 3 and 5 enrolled in participating Head Star Centers in Texas, US or kindergartens in Northern Mexico. Upon informed consent, mothers completed a self-administered questionnaire assessing their perception of their preschoolers’ weight status. Preschoolers’ body weight and height were measured; and their actual weight status was classified using the CDC's age and gender specific BMI references. Results Preliminary data included 85 and 294 child-mother pairs from US and Mexico, respectively. The US sample had a higher rate of overweight and obesity (35%) in comparison to the Mexico sample (19%). There was a great discrepancy between mothers’ perception and their children's actual weight status in both samples. Although only approximately 5% of children were underweight, 14% of American and 24% of Mexican mothers perceived their children being underweight. Contrarily, only 4.8% of American mothers perceived their children as a little overweight or obese, as compared to the actual rate of 35%. Similarly, only 5% of Mexican mothers perceived their children as a little overweight or obese, as compared to the actual rate of 19%. Conclusions Hispanic mothers in the US and Mexico appear to worry about their normal weight children being underweight, while overlooking the overweight and obesity problem. Early childhood obesity prevention programming is needed to aggressively address Hispanic mothers’ preference of chubby children, and the mothers’ underestimation of overweight and obesity among their preschoolers. Funding Sources The Mexico's National Science and Technology Council & The Kellogg´s Institute of Nutrition and Health.

2011 ◽  
Vol 171 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert E. Post ◽  
Arch G. Mainous ◽  
Seth H. Gregorie ◽  
Michele E. Knoll ◽  
Vanessa A. Diaz ◽  
...  

2009 ◽  
Vol 13 (7) ◽  
pp. 1003-1012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janny M Goris ◽  
Solveig Petersen ◽  
Emmanuel Stamatakis ◽  
J Lennert Veerman

AbstractObjectiveTo estimate the contribution of television (TV) food advertising to the prevalence of obesity among 6–11-year-old children in Australia, Great Britain (England and Scotland only), Italy, The Netherlands, Sweden and the United States.DesignData from contemporary representative studies on the prevalence of childhood obesity and on TV food advertising exposure in the above countries were entered into a mathematical simulation model. Two different effect estimators were used to calculate the reduction in prevalence of overweight and obesity in the absence of TV food advertising in each country; one based on literature and one based on experts’ estimates.SettingSix- to eleven-year-old children in six Western countries.ResultsEstimates of the average exposure of children to TV food advertising range from 1·8 min/d in The Netherlands to 11·5 min/d in the United States. Its contribution to the prevalence of childhood obesity is estimated at 16 %–40 % in the United States, 10 %–28 % in Australia and Italy and 4 %–18 % in Great Britain, Sweden and The Netherlands.ConclusionsThe contribution of TV advertising of foods and drinks to the prevalence of childhood obesity differs distinctly by country and is likely to be significant in some countries.


2015 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 88-93
Author(s):  
Beth Louisa Ellcessor

Background: Hispanic children have a higher prevalence of overweight and obesity in the United States.  Acculturation of Hispanics living in the U.S. affects dietary intake and physical activity, thus impacting weight status and health problems related to obesity. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the differences in overweight/obesity and dietary and physical activity behaviors between Hispanic and non-Hispanic children living in the United States.  Methods: Using the 2001-2002 Health Behaviors of School-Aged Children Questionnaire, 6th-10th grade student surveys (n=14,817) were analyzed to compare BMI, consumption of fruits, vegetables, and sugar-sweetened beverages, and levels of physical activity between Hispanic and non-Hispanic subjects. Independent t-test, Oneway ANOVA and Pearson’s Chi-Square provided statistical analysis for the descriptive and research variables. Results: Comparing Hispanic and non-Hispanic students, there was no difference in gender or age, but urbanicity, birth country, home language, and education of mother and father had significant differences between Hispanic and non-Hispanic students (p<0.01).  The Hispanic sample had higher rates of overweight and obesity (p<0.001), consumed lower amounts of fruits (p<0.001) and vegetables (p<0.001), consumed higher amounts of sugar-sweetened beverages (p=0.001), and reported being less physically active (p<0.001) compared to non-Hispanic students.  Conclusion: As evidenced by the 2001-2002 HBSC survey, Hispanic children are consuming less fruits and vegetables and more sugar-sweetened beverages, and have lower rates of physical activity compared to non-Hispanic children.  This may be contributing to the higher rates of overweight and obesity found in this population.  These results could be used in the development of childhood obesity interventions involving Hispanic children.


2017 ◽  
Vol 51 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-36 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claire E. Altman ◽  
Jennifer Van Hook ◽  
Jonathan Gonzalez

Mexican women gain weight with increasing duration in the United States. In the United States, body dissatisfaction tends to be associated with depression, disordered eating, and incongruent weight evaluations, particularly among white women and women of higher socioeconomic status. However, it remains unclear how being overweight and obesity are interpreted by Mexican women. Using comparable data of women aged 20–64 from both Mexico (the 2006 Encuesta Nacional de Salud y Nutricion; N = 17,012) and the United States (the 1999–2009 National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys; N = 8,487), we compare weight status evaluations among Mexican nationals, Mexican immigrants, US-born Mexicans, US-born non-Hispanic whites, and US-born non-Hispanic blacks. Logistic regression analyses, which control for demographic and socioeconomic variables and measured body mass index and adjust for the likelihood of migration for Mexican nationals, indicate that the tendency to self-evaluate as overweight among Mexicans converges with levels among non-Hispanic whites and diverges from blacks over time in the United States. Overall, the results suggest a US integration process in which Mexican-American women's less critical self-evaluations originate in Mexico but fade with time in the United States as they gradually adopt US white norms for thinner body sizes. These results are discussed in light of prior research about social comparison and negative health assimilation.


2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_2) ◽  
pp. 1704-1704
Author(s):  
Parvaneh Yavari ◽  
Thelma Jane Pritzl

Abstract Objectives To investigate the potential mechanisms by which child care food program CCFP and/or supplemental nutrition assistance program SNAP can impact on food insecurity, dietary intake, and weight status of preschool children. Methods This review article is based on the new findings and valid published papers by searching pubmed, google scholar, and/or educational and governmental resources. Results Childhood obesity is considered the most serious health issue in the United States among children and adolescents. In 2009–2010, it was estimated that 26.7% of 2-to-5-year-olds (more than 1 in 4 children) were already overweight or obese. in 2013–2014, about 1 in 6 children and adolescents ages 2 to 19 were obese. Children with obesity are at serious risk for cardiovascular disease. Childhood obesity is also related to mental health issues. The medical care costs of obesity in the United States in 2008 were estimated to be $147 billion per year. According to the Centers for Disease Control, it is much easier to affect children's food preferences or enthusiasm for physical activity at preschool ages. For Florida WIC participants in 2010, childhood obesity in 10-to-17-year-olds was estimated at 17.8%. Yet, the number of Florida children living in households affected by food insecurity at any point during the period 2007–2009 was 934,000 compared to 773,000 in 2016–2018, which shows a 6% reduction in food insecurity. In Florida, the number of participants in the SNAP was 2603,185 in 2010 compared with 3347,518 in 2018. In a recent study, household food insecurity was associated with higher child adiposity related outcomes. Conclusions More research is needed to investigate the impact of improving dietary pattern on food insecurity and on childhood obesity. Since childhood obesity increases the risk of chronic disease and disability later in life, we need an in-depth study f the relationship between food insecurity and childhood obesity, including the pattern and trend of this relationship by demographic characteristics among children. It is important to examine the potential mechanisms by which CCFP and/or SNAP could create healthy impact on child health status. Funding Sources No funding resource for this review article.


Author(s):  
Steven Hurst

The United States, Iran and the Bomb provides the first comprehensive analysis of the US-Iranian nuclear relationship from its origins through to the signing of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in 2015. Starting with the Nixon administration in the 1970s, it analyses the policies of successive US administrations toward the Iranian nuclear programme. Emphasizing the centrality of domestic politics to decision-making on both sides, it offers both an explanation of the evolution of the relationship and a critique of successive US administrations' efforts to halt the Iranian nuclear programme, with neither coercive measures nor inducements effectively applied. The book further argues that factional politics inside Iran played a crucial role in Iranian nuclear decision-making and that American policy tended to reinforce the position of Iranian hardliners and undermine that of those who were prepared to compromise on the nuclear issue. In the final chapter it demonstrates how President Obama's alterations to American strategy, accompanied by shifts in Iranian domestic politics, finally brought about the signing of the JCPOA in 2015.


2014 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 381-388 ◽  
Author(s):  
Euan Hague ◽  
Alan Mackie

The United States media have given rather little attention to the question of the Scottish referendum despite important economic, political and military links between the US and the UK/Scotland. For some in the US a ‘no’ vote would be greeted with relief given these ties: for others, a ‘yes’ vote would be acclaimed as an underdog escaping England's imperium, a narrative clearly echoing America's own founding story. This article explores commentary in the US press and media as well as reporting evidence from on-going interviews with the Scottish diaspora in the US. It concludes that there is as complex a picture of the 2014 referendum in the United States as there is in Scotland.


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