Mothers Perception and Knowledge Towards Obesity with Obesity Status in Preschool Age Children in Indonesia Agnes Wigatiningtyas (a), Ananda Eka Puspitasari (a), Anastasia Geraldine Sagitadewi (a), Lia Kartika (a*), Dwi Yulianto Nugroho (a)
a) Faculty of Nursing, Universitas Pelita Harapan, Jl. Boulevard Jenderal Sudirman No. 15, Banten 15810, Indonesia
*sarah.kartika[at]uph.edu
Abstract
Background: Obesity is a health problem that is often found in children. In Indonesia, many children are overweight and obese. Mothers who have the wrong perception of a childs weight status and have poor knowledge about child obesity usually have obese children. Hence, mothers perception and knowledge influence childrens weight status.
Purpose: To determine the relationship between mothers perception and knowledge towards obesity with obesity status in preschool age children in Indonesia.
Methods: The study used a quantitative correlational design with a cross-sectional approach. The population of the study is all mothers who had preschool age children. 408 mothers were involved through incidental sampling technique. The study was conducted from April May 2020. We used questionnaires about mothers perception and knowledge towards obesity in preschool age children with validity and reliability, values of 0,739 and 0,747.
Results: Chi square analysis showed a significant relationship between mothers knowledge with obesity status in preschool children in Indonesia (p= 0,003). Meanwhile, there was no relationship between mothers perception with obesity status in preschool children in Indonesia (p= 0,730).
Conclusion: The results of this study can be used by educational institutions to increase a mothers knowledge about child obesity through education. It also can be used as a reference for further research on childhood obesity with different variables, such as a mothers attitudes about child obesity and childrens eating habits.
