Family Factors and Body Mass Index Among Korean-American Preschoolers

Factors associated with school‐aged children's body mass index in Korean American families

“…In data from the national health and nutrition examination survey (NHANES 2011(NHANES -2014, approximately 20% of Asian American children were overweight or obese (Asian and Pacific Islander American Health Forum 2016). Among overall Korean American children aged between 2 and 19 years, 20-27% of children were overweight or obese, similar to other Asian American children (Park et al 2015, Jain et al 2012, Asian and Pacific Islander American Health Forum 2016. Asian American children have more exposure to the US culture than their parents did in their formative years, which may increase the risk of being overweight or obese compared with their parents (Popkin & Udry 1998).…”

“…A greater maternal underestimation of their children's weight was associated with higher child BMI. Research on the relationship between parent underestimation of their child's weight has been inconsistent, with both significant (Rietmeijer-Mentink et al 2013) and non-significant relationships reported (Park et al 2015, Gerards et al 2014. In a study that explored the association between perception and weight status in African-American families, mothers' underestimation of their children's weight prevented them from making better decisions on their practices in feeding and food preparation and making recommendations for their children's health behaviours (Young-Hyman et al 2000).…”

“…Among overall Korean American children aged between 2 and 19 years, 20–27% of children were overweight or obese, similar to other Asian American children (Park et al . , Jain et al . , Asian and Pacific Islander American Health Forum ).…”

Obesity‐risk behaviours and their associations with body mass index (BMI) in Korean American children

“…As a subgroup of Asian Americans (U.S. census 2012), Korean American children have a prevalence of overweight and obesity similar to other Asian children. In one study, 22.3% of Korean American preschool children were overweight or obese (Park et al., ). In another study, 20% of 4‐year old Korean American children were overweight or obese (Jain et al., ).…”

Association between maternal lifestyle and preschool nutrition

“…The epidemiological transition that occurred in several countries with reduction of infectious diseases and increase in CNCDs drove the health sector to conduct research to understand the health behaviors involved in this increase, especially concerning the mother-child relationship. 1 Research studying the relationship between mothers and children mainly investigate parenting practices in relation to food and sedentary behavior of the child; 2-6 parental perception of the child's weight; [7][8][9][10][11][12] use of food as a tool for the establishment of maternal and child emotional relationship; [13][14][15] study of parental behavioral LS and the child's nutritional status and physical activity; [16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25] relationship of maternal depression on children's nutritional status; [26][27][28][29][30] and, last, clinical studies on the development process of CNCD with onset in childhood. [31][32][33][34] None of these study the mother-child relationship.…”