Maternal Perceptions of Overweight in Young Children of Mexican Descent

Among Mexican Americans, 33% of preschool-aged youngsters and 43% of 6 to 11-year-olds are overweight or at risk for overweight. We conducted focus groups with 86 Mexican mothers of 4 to 6 year-old children from high-migration areas in Mexico and Mexican immigrant communities in California between March 2007 and January 2008 to compare their perceptions of childhood overweight and related risk factors. Compared to mothers in California, mothers in Mexico perceived that their children's bodies were larger and favored a significantly larger ideal body size for children. California mothers reported increased satisfaction with their child's current body size compared to mothers in Mexico. Mothers stated that risk factors associated with children's weight gain when families migrate from Mexico to California included: (1) increased purchasing power, translating to increased consumption of fast foods; (2) increased food availability leading to more food intake; (3) less preparation of home meals thus reducing the quality of food consumed; (4) sedentary lifestyles; (5) family separations that often lead to depression and stresses that trigger overeating, and (6) past experiences with food insecurity causing families to feed their children more food. In Mexico, risk factors such as providing too much junk food and undiluted fruit juices and pushing children to always finish what is on their plates were identified as factors associated with childhood overweight by mothers. Understanding mother's perceptions of childhood overweight and related risk factors on both sides of the border will contribute to more effective interventions for young Mexican children.