PERCEPCIÓN DE LAS MADRES DEL ESTADO NUTRICIONAL DE SUS NIÑOS EN UNA ESCUELA PRIMARIA DE CACHI (SALTA, ARGENTINA)

Abstract

Introduction: Overweight and obesity prevalence in childhood has increased in the last decades. The distorted perception of the mothers about their sons corporal image and food habits are predictors of overweight and obesity. The objectives of this work were to determine mothersperception of their sons nutritional status and compare it with the evaluated nutritional status. Methods: A quantitative, descriptive and cross-sectional study was performed to 35 mothers and their respective sons that attend to the first grade in the primary school called Victorino de La Plaza in Cachi. Variables were age, sex, nutritional status, waist circumference, mothersperception about their sonsnutritional status, opinion about the nutritional status and mothersperception about health in relation with the nutritional status. Results: it could be observed that the nutritional status of the 35 children was 63% normal weight, 11 % low weight, 20 % overweight, and 6 % obesity. The alteration in mothersperception of the nutritional status was significantly greater in overweight children. Conclusions: Mothers with overweight and obese sons show a distortion of their childrens corporal image in a greater proportion than those whose sons have a normal weight. It is highlighted the importance of overweight early diagnosis in children and the need of their mothersacknowledgement.