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Perception of Child Weight and Feeding Styles in Parents of Chinese-American Preschoolers

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Abstract

Parent perception of weight and feeding styles are associated with obesity in other racial groups but have not been explored in-depth in Chinese-American preschoolers. Cross-sectional survey of 253 Chinese-American parents with preschoolers was performed in a community clinic. Regression analysis was used to assess relationships between parental perception of weight and feeding styles. Parent under-perception of weight was common but more likely in boys than girls (χ2 = 4.91, p = 0.03). Pressuring was also greater in boys [adjusted mean difference (95% CI) 0.24 (0.004, 0.49)]. In girls, pressuring was lower for children perceived as overweight [adjusted mean difference in CFQ scores −0.75 (−1.27, −0.23)]; in boys, pressuring was high regardless of perceived child weight. Weight perceptions and feeding styles related to childhood obesity in other groups were identified in Chinese-American families. Parent under-perception of child weight and pressure to eat were more common in boys. These factors should be addressed in Chinese-American preschooler obesity prevention programs.

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Abbreviations

CFQ:

Child Feeding Questionnaire

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Wendy Chan, Angela Chen, Holly Chen, Joanna Chu, Lee Hsu, Sally Wu, Janan Zhu who conducted the interviews and performed the data entry. Finally, we thank the families and staff at CBWCHC for their assistance with this study.

Funding

Supported in part by the Academic Pediatric Association Young Investigator Award for Region II, and grant UL1 TR000038 from the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, National Institutes of Health

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pediatrics, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA

    Lucy Y. Chang, Alan L. Mendelsohn, Arthur H. Fierman & Mary Jo Messito

  2. Department of Pediatrics, Charles B. Wang Community Health Center, New York, NY, USA

    Loretta Y. Au

Authors
  1. Lucy Y. Chang
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  2. Alan L. Mendelsohn
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  3. Arthur H. Fierman
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  4. Loretta Y. Au
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  5. Mary Jo Messito
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Correspondence to Lucy Y. Chang.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Chang, L.Y., Mendelsohn, A.L., Fierman, A.H. et al. Perception of Child Weight and Feeding Styles in Parents of Chinese-American Preschoolers. J Immigrant Minority Health 19, 302–308 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-016-0541-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-016-0541-9

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