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Abstract

Understanding parents’ feeding control practices and their associations with various factors is useful for prevention of childhood obesity. Two cross-sectional studies were conducted in urban Dong Da (n=1364) and rural Ba Vi districts (n=1313) Hanoi, Vietnam. Child Feeding Questionnaire (CFQ) was used. Mothers reported the use of more restriction, pressure to eat and monitoring than the fathers. The measured child’s Body Mass Index (BMI) and the mother’s perception of the child’s weight were negatively associated with pressure to eat and positively associated with monitoring. A positive association was found between restriction and the mother’s perception of the child’s weight. In the rural area, high consumption of fatty food, sweets and snacks was associated with high use of restriction and monitoring. The amount of food consumed was negatively associated with the use of pressure to eat. In the urban area, consumption of fatty food and sweets was positively correlated both with restriction and pressure to eat. Monitoring was negatively associated with consumption of fatty food and snacks and positively with the amount of food. Higher education of the mothers was associated with higher use of monitoring, restriction (in the urban area) and pressure to eat (in the rural area). Feeding practices in Vietnam differed between mothers and fathers and between urban and rural areas. This implies that parental roles as well as socio-demographic factors should be considered when designing programs for prevention of childhood overweight and obesity.

Biography

Loan Minh Do is currently working as a Pediatrician at Vietnam National Children’s Hospital and also Director of Direction of Healthcare Activities Center. She has completed her Medicine Doctor's degree (PhD) at University of Gothenburg, Sweden.

E-mail: minhloan68@gmail.com