Child Weight Perception among Miami Cuban American WIC Mothers

Objective: To assess maternal perception of child weight status and factors associated with perception of child weight status, and satisfaction of child's weight among WIC mothers who are of Cuban descent by using child figure silhouettes. Methods: A cross-sectional design was used to assess weight perception. A convenience sample of 150 WIC mothers in Miami-Dade County were interviewed using child silhouettes. Height and weight of mothers were measured and demographics were extracted from their WIC chart. Children' weight and height were extracted from WIC charts. Data were collected for a 12-month period. Results: Students' t-tests, cross tabulations, correlations, and logistic regression revealed that on average, mothers perceived their children' BMI to be about two points lower than actual BMI. As the age and education level of the mother increased, the higher the likelihood that she correctly identified the silhouette that represented the child of weight status with the greatest risk for health problems. WIC mothers were 22 times more likely to accurately select a normal female silhouette. Furthermore, 82.6% of mothers with overweight children were satisfied with their children's' weight. Mothers who preferred their children to weigh less had a significantly higher weight and BMI than mothers who wanted their child to weigh more. Implications: Public health and nutrition professionals need to identify culturally sensitive strategies that help WIC mothers to overcome the barrier of weight misperception among WIC mothers.