Maternal Ratings of Child Health and Child Overweight by Nativity and Origin Country’s Economic Development

• In Event: 322 - Section on Medical Sociology Roundtable Session
  In Refereed Roundtable: Table 06. Child/Adolescent Health

Abstract

We examined whether indicators of child health, focusing on obesity, are associated with maternal ratings of child health (MRCH) and its variation by mother’s nativity and economic development of country of origin. The Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten cohort (ECLS-K) kindergarten-eighth grade waves (n=42,543) and nested general linear mixed modeling are used to examine excellent MRCH. Mothers of overweight children are less likely to rate their child as having excellent MRCH, especially among children of native born mothers. However, among children of foreign-born mothers overweight was less predictive of excellent MRCH. Additionally, mothers from less economically developed countries were significantly more likely to rate their overweight child as having excellent MRCH compared to children of native born mothers. MRCH reflect not only child’s actual health, but also the mother’s perception of what contributes to poor child health. Our findings suggest that immigrant mothers from less economically developed countries are less likely to associate child obesity with poor child health. Cultural orientations that prefer heavier children or are unlikely to associate child obesity with poor child health may contribute to the higher levels of obesity found among their children.

Authors

• Elizabeth Helene Baker, University of Alabama-Birmingham

• Anthony David Campbell, University of Alabama-Birmingham