The research which was conducted as part of the national longitudinal survey, Growing Up in Ireland, shines a light on an issue which is seldomly out of the headlines.
According to researchers at the University of Limerick, mothers of children who are deemed overweight or obese struggle to recognise their child as such, with just one in six mothers correctly classifying their child's weight.
The trend highlights a disparity which exists between mothers' perceptions of themselves and the perception they have of their offspring.
According to co-author, Professor Ailish Hannigan, “Three quarters of overweight mothers and 60% of obese mothers in the study recognised themselves as overweight or obese, mothers of overweight or obese children were much less likely to recognise this in their child.”
Elaborating on this point, co-author Dr. Helen Purtil asserted: “Interestingly, overweight or obese mothers with accurate perceptions of their own weight were more likely to correctly classify their overweight or obese child.”
Eager to highlight the implications of this, Dr. Kieran Dowd, Centre for Physical Activity and Health Research at the University of Limerick said: “If mothers, who are the primary caregivers in the majority of Irish homes, are unable to identify their child as overweight or obese, it is unlikely that they will react or intervene to change this .”
“This may result in continued weight gain throughout the remainder of childhood and adolescence into adulthood”, he warned.
The research, which was conducted with 7,655 mothers and their nine-year-old children, was published in the international journal Archives of Disease in Childhood.
