This study was performed to investigate body image perceptions of women about themselves and their preschool children and also to investigate the relationship between these perceptions. Subjects were 545 women and their children (279 boys and 268 girls) residing in Daejeon city. 67.7% of women were classified as normal group, 18.6% as overweight group, and 13.8% as underweight group by BMI. 68.5% and 78.7% of their boys and girls, respectively, were classified as normal group, 22.4% and 16.4% as overweight group, 9.1% and 4.9% as underweight group by WLI. Women made relatively accurate judgments on their current body sizes and selected their body images as the most desirable one. But they preferred plumper figures for their children and failed to perceive their overweight children as overweight. While 74.7% of women wished to be thinner, 81.1% of them wished their children to be fatter. Women spending less then 100 thousand won and more than 500 thousand won as monthly food expenses and having only one child perceived their children's current body sizes the lowest and the highest, respectively. Women wished boys to be fatter than girls. Their current body sizes were correlated positively with the children's current body size (p<.01), and their healthiest, attractive, and 'wish' figures were correlated positively with children's current, healthiest, attractive, and 'wish' figures (p<.05 - p<.01). Body size dissatisfaction (wish to be thinner) and BMI of women were correlated negatively with children's healthiest and attractive figures (p<.01). These findings suggest that in order to correct the women's body image misperceptions and to prevent childhood obesity, mother's perception about healthy body images for themselves and their children need to be included in nutrition education. Also, it is necessary to assist mothers to understand the relationship of body size and weight status with the risk of chronic disease which might appear later in their children's life.
This study was conducted to investigate whether there were any differences in the body image perception, dietary behavior and maternal dietary guidance between an obese group ("OG") and a normal weight group ("NWG"), and furthermore, to provide basic informations for comprehensive educational programs for obese children. For this purpose, the questionnaire method was used. The subjects were 1,501 elementary school children, in the 4th to the 6th grades in Seoul, Busan, Daegu, Gwangju, and Andong, and their mothers (1,459). The percentage of the children who misperceive their body image was higher among the girls (30.4%) than the boys (22.6%). The average scores for balanced dietary behavior as assessed by the children was higher in the OG than in NWG; the average scores for dietary control as assessed by their mothers was higher in the NWG than in the OG. The scores for dietary behavior as assessed by the children was different from those as assessed by their mothers. Assuming that the mothers would give more correct and balanced answers, the development of a reliable questionnaire for dietary behavior that could be more accurately answered by the children is necessary. Maternal dietary guidance for dietary control was more frequently given in the OG as compared with the NWG and more frequently in girls as compared with boys ; while that for balanced diet was more in the NWG as compared with the OG. The worse the mothers estimate of the dietary behavior for their children, the more they tried to guide their children in dietary behavior. It is recommended that the children should be taught to correctly recognize the degree of their obesity, and receive the appropriate educational program accordingly, including the maternal dietary guidance.