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Peer-reviewed article

Overweight in Latino preschoolers: do parental health beliefs matter?

OBJECTIVE: To characterize the knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs (KAB) regarding childhood obesity among parents of Latino preschoolers. METHODS: Three hundred sixty-nine Mexican immigrant parents of children ages 2-5 were interviewed.…

By John D. LantosJanuary 1, 20101 min readin American journal of health behavior

OBJECTIVE: To characterize the knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs (KAB) regarding childhood obesity among parents of Latino preschoolers. METHODS: Three hundred sixty-nine Mexican immigrant parents of children ages 2-5 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 (>95%ile-for-age-and-sex BMI) versus nonoverweight (<95%ile 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.

Originally published at American journal of health behavior · January 1, 2010.

About the author

John D. Lantos is a pediatrician and bioethicist writing on AI in medicine, neonatal intensive care, and end-of-life decisions. His essays appear in JAMA, JAMA Pediatrics, the Hastings Center Report, the New England Journal of Medicine, and Aeon. Read more about John.

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