Beliefs About Body Weight and Practices of Regulating Food and Physical Exercise Patterns of Children Among Parents in Southern Ethiopia

Figures & data

Table 1 Socio-Demographic Characteristics of Respondents

Variables	Categories	Frequencies (%)
Sex	Male	102 (47.4%)
	Female	113 (52.6%)
Age	18–25	32 (14.9%)
	26–33	83 (38.6%)
	34–41	52 (24.2%)
	42–49	35 (16.3%)
	50–57	10 (4.7%)
	58 and above	3 (1.4%)
Education	Primary school (1–8) level	62 (28.8%)
	Secondary school (9–12) level	53 (24.7%)
	College diploma (10+3)	32 (14.9%)
	BA/BSc degree	40 (18.6%)
	MA/MSc degree and above	28 (13%)
Grown up area	Rural	103 (47.9%)
	Urban	112 (52.1%)
Total		215 (100%)

Table 2 Body Size Preferences and Beliefs About Appropriate Body Weight of a Child

Variables	Categories	Frequencies (%)
How do you like your own body size to be?	Very voluptuous/fatty	7 (3.3%)
	Voluptuous	46 (21.4%)
	Very thin	4 (1.9%)
	Thin	24 (11.2%)
	Average/neither thin nor fatty	134 (62.3%)
What is your preference regarding the ideal body size/morphology of men and women?	Men should have voluptuous body size	20 (9.3%)
	Men should have thin physical appearance	14 (6.5%)
	Women should have large body size	14 (6.5%)
	Women should have thin physical appearance	18 (8.4%)
	Both should have normal/neither thin nor voluptuous physical appearance	119 (55.3%)
	Both should be thin	18 (8.4%)
	Both should have voluptuous body size	12 (5.6%)
How do you want the body size/physical appearance of your child to be?	Very voluptuous/fatty	32 (14.9%)
	Voluptuous	37 (17.2%)
	Very thin	–
	Thin	19 (8.8%)
	Average/neither thin nor fatty	127 (59.1%)
Do you believe that parents should help/do something to get their child become fat?	Yes	82 (38.1%)
	No	133 (61.9%)
Do you do/have you ever done something to get your child become fat/obese?	Yes	82 (38.1%)
	No	133 (61.9%)
Do you think the body size of a child has something to do with health status?	Yes	112 (52.1%)
	No	103 (47.9%)
Do you believe that physical strength of a child has something to do with body size/morphology?	Yes	123 (57.2%)
	No	92 (42.8%)
How are physical strength and body size of children related, according to your opinion?	The thin is stronger than someone with voluptuous body size	26 (12.1%)
	A child with voluptuous body is stronger than the thin	34 (15.8%)
	A child with an average body size is stronger	55 (25.6%)
	Other	9 (4.2%)
	Missing	91 (42.3%)
What do you feel if you find out that your child is increasingly getting overweight/obese?	Happy	42 (19.5%)
	Worried that he/she may contract some kind of disease?	147 (68.4%)
	Nothing	26 (12.1%)
Total		215 (100%)

Table 3 Level of Concerns of Parents Regarding the Body Weight and Feeding Practices of Children

Concerns	Highly Concerning	Concerning	Not Concerning
Your child is overweight/obese	115 (53.5%)	73 (34%)	27 (12.5%)
Your child is underweight	108 (50.2%)	96 (44.7%)	11 (5.1%)
Your child’s body weight always remains normal/average but healthy	13 (6%)	8 (3.7%)	194 (90.2%)
Your child eats too much amount of food	40 (18.6%)	122 (56.7%)	53 (24.7%)
Your child eats too little amount of food	55 (25.6%)	152 (70.7%)	8 (3.7%)

Figure 1 In your opinion, which of the following argument is/are acceptable?

Table 4 Patterns of Feeding Children and Perceptions Regarding Child Feeding

Variables	Categories	Frequencies (%)
What is the common pattern of serving meals to a child at your home?	No limit/as needed by the child	59 (27.4%)
	Depends on availability of food	16 (7.4%)
	Once a day	2 (0.9%)
	Twice a day	1 (0.5%)
	Three times a day	66 (30.7%)
	Four times a day	54 (25.1%)
	Five or more times a day	15 (7%)
	Others	2 (0.9%)
Do you regulate/control the food consumption practices of your child?	Yes	200 (93%)
	No	15 (7%)
Do you control the amount and type of food your child consumes to prevent overweight/obesity?	Yes	156 (72.6%)
	No	59 (27.4%)
Do you often force/intimidate your child to finish all the food served to him/her on the dish?	Yes	97 (45.1%)
	No	118 (54.9%)
When preparing food to your child, do you focus on the food items that can help your child gain more body weight?	Yes	114 (53%)
	No	101 (47%)
When sending your child to school, do you often advice/warn him/her that s/he must finish the food you send with him or her?	Yes	164 (76.3%)
	No	51 (23.7%)
Let us assume that your child did not finish all the food you sent with him/her to school, what do you do?	Nothing	55 (25.6%)
	Advise him/her to improve for the next day	99 (46%)
	Punish him/her not to repeat for upcoming days	12 (5.6%)
	Intimidate him/her not to do it again	40 (18.6%)
	Other	9 (4.2%)
Total		215 (100%)

Figure 2 How do you regulate/control the food consumption practices of your child?

Table 5 Perceptions and Experiences About Children’s Physical Exercises

Variables	Categories	Frequencies (%)
Do you encourage your child to sometimes walk on foot, instead of always relying on vehicles?	Yes	171 (79.5%)
	No	44 (20.5%)
Do you regulate the amount of time your child should spend watching TV?	Yes	187 (87%)
	No	28 (13%)
Do you believe that one has to do regular physical exercises to remain healthy?	Yes	189 (87.9%)
	No	26 (12.1%)
Who do you think should do physical exercises?	Men	8 (3.7%)
	Women	2 (0.9%)
	Both	198 (92.1%)
	None	7 (3.3%)
Do you undertake physical exercises?	Yes	169 (78.6%)
	No	46 (21.4%)
If yes, how often do you undertake physical exercises?	Daily	56 (26%)
	Sometimes	57 (26.5%)
	Occasionally	32 (14.9%)
	Once a week	16 (7.4%)
	Others	10 (4.7%)
	Missing	44 (20.5%)
Do you believe that children should do physical exercises to stay healthy?	Yes	185 (86%)
	No	30 (14%)
Do you encourage your child to do physical exercises?	Yes	178 (82.8%)
	No	37 (17.2%)
Who do you think should do physical exercises?	Boys	13 (6%)
	Girls	–
	Both	194 (90.2%)
	None of them	8 (3.7%)
Total		215 (100%)

Table 6 Multinomial Regression Regarding Association Between Child’s Body Size Preferences of Parents and Socio-Demographic Characteristics

How Do You Want the Body Size/Physical Appearance of Your Child to be?		B	P-value	OR	95% C.I
Thin	Sex	−0.886	0.285	0.412	0.081–2.091
	Age	−12.133	0.869	5.377	9.55–3.025
	Education	10.023	0.892	225.588	4.068–1.248
	Grownup area	0.869	0.161	2.386	0.708–8.036
Voluptuous	Sex	−1.439	0.012*	0.237	0.078-0.724
	Age	15.632	0.000***	61.52.448	57–66.14
	Education	3.572	0.000***	35.605	6.050–209.524
	Grownup area	1.054	0.038*	2.869	1.062–7.749
Very voluptuous/fatty	Sex	−0.945	0.080	0.389	0.135–1.120
	Age	16.997	0.999	24.517	0.016–028
	Education	1.674	0.023*	5.331	1.256–22.626
	Grownup area	0.960	0.038*	2.613	1.052–6.487

Notes: ***P < 0.001, *P < 0.05. The reference category is: Average body size/neither tinny nor fatty.

Abbreviations: OR, Odds Ratio; C.I., Confidence Interval.