Abstract
The purpose of this study was to examine child and parent determinants of children’s body fat percentage (BF%) along with their body mass index percentile (BMIp). Children’s BF% and BMIp auger lifelong health risks when elevated, and one in five children are affected. Participants (N = 135) included 62% female children; 50.7% Caucasian, 31.7% Hispanic, and 8.5% African American. Children were aged 9–15 years (2% underweight, 47.9% normal weight, 19.7% overweight, and 24.6% obese). Parent BMI average was 30.67 (1.4% underweight, 20.4% normal weight, 23.9% overweight, 40% obese, and 7% extreme obesity); 77.5% of the participating parents were mothers. Following multiple imputations, path analyses were conducted of child and parent determinants of children’s BF% and BMIp. Children’s BF% and BMIp were related to parents’ concern about overweight and children’s perception of that concern. For children of overweight or obese parents, who are at highest risk for obesity, assessing the parents’ concern is the highest priority.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 593-602 |
| Number of pages | 10 |
| Journal | Western Journal of Nursing Research |
| Volume | 42 |
| Issue number | 8 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 1 Aug 2020 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Funding
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9499-0006 Frenn Marilyn 1 Kaugars Astrida 2 Garcia Juanita 1 Garnier-Villarreal Mauricio 1 1 Marquette University College of Nursing, Milwaukee, WI, USA 2 Marquette University Department of Psychology, Milwaukee, WI, USA Marilyn Frenn, Marquette University College of Nursing, P.O. Box 1881, Milwaukee, WI 53201-1881, USA. Email: [email protected] 10 2019 0193945919879960 © The Author(s) 2019 2019 SAGE Publications The purpose of this study was to examine child and parent determinants of children’s body fat percentage (BF%) along with their body mass index percentile (BMIp). Children’s BF% and BMIp auger lifelong health risks when elevated, and one in five children are affected. Participants ( N = 135) included 62% female children; 50.7% Caucasian, 31.7% Hispanic, and 8.5% African American. Children were aged 9–15 years (2% underweight, 47.9% normal weight, 19.7% overweight, and 24.6% obese). Parent BMI average was 30.67 (1.4% underweight, 20.4% normal weight, 23.9% overweight, 40% obese, and 7% extreme obesity); 77.5% of the participating parents were mothers. Following multiple imputations, path analyses were conducted of child and parent determinants of children’s BF% and BMIp. Children’s BF% and BMIp were related to parents’ concern about overweight and children’s perception of that concern. For children of overweight or obese parents, who are at highest risk for obesity, assessing the parents’ concern is the highest priority. child body fat percentage child body mass percentile parent concern Northwestern Mutual Foundation award to the Clinical and Translational Science Institute of SE WI NA edited-state corrected-proof The authors thank Dr. Jane Kotchen and research assistants who helped with the project, especially Sarah Burkel MSN, Christian Villanueva BSN, and Elena Caro BSN. Declaration of Conflicting Interests The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. Funding The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: Northwestern Mutual Foundation award to the Clinical and Translational Science Institute of SE WI. ORCID iD Marilyn Frenn https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9499-0006
Keywords
- child body fat percentage
- child body mass percentile
- parent concern