Award Date

1-1-2001

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science in Nursing (MSN)

Department

Nursing

First Committee Member

Margaret Louis

Number of Pages

110

Abstract

The purpose of this descriptive study was to describe parental perceptions of their preschool child's weight status. Pender's Revised Health Promotion Model was used to guide this study. A convenience sample of 275 parents, who had a child between the age of 2--5 years, was obtained from Women, Infant's and Children (WIC) clinics in a Southwestern city, after informed consent was obtained. The sample had a high number of Hispanics (80%) compared to non-Hispanics (20%). It was found that overall parents perceive their child's weight accurately. No significance was found between the ethnicity, education or age of the parents and the accuracy of the parental perception of their child's weight category. Hispanic children were more often overweight (11.2%) compared to 9.1% of non-Hispanic children (BMI >95th percentile), but Hispanic parents perceived these children to be underweight more often (11.6%) than non-Hispanic parents (7.3%). The significant number of overweight children in this study reinforces the need for culturally-sensitive education for parents, from health professionals, to decrease the incidence of childhood obesity.

Keywords

Childhood; Children; Parental; Perceptions; Preschool; Status; Weight

Controlled Subject

Nursing; Nutrition; Public health; Social psychology

File Format

pdf

File Size

3348.48 KB

Degree Grantor

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Language

English

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