Control and pressure when eating in mothers of Costa Rican preschoolers, and its relationship with social class, schooling, early feeding practices of and body mass index of their sons and daughters

Abstract

The purpose of this work was to characterize the pressure and control when eating that mothers of Costa Rican preschoolers of high and lower class exert, evaluating relationships with the IMC of children, the type of lactancy, the ablactation, the schooling of the mother and her degree of dedication to housework.  Mothers of high class (n=101) and lower class (n=121) were asked to complete a validated survey (Cronbach’s α = 0.7) based on Likert Scale questions, to quantify, besides the required general information, the levels of control and pressure. Additionally, the IMC was determined for their preschooler sons and daughters (95 children of high class and 99 of low class). For the study of the data, t-Student tests, analyses of variance, correlations and evaluations of chi square were used.  An overweight tendency in children of both sexes was detected in the high class, which contrasts with girls of a lower class (lower weight).  A greater frequency of work outside the household was demonstrated for the low class (p=0.008), being the introduction of solid food earlier as well (p=0.04).  Maternal milk was used more often for both social classes for the newborn.  Both classes showed high “control” and “pressure”, especially between the mothers of lower class who work outside the household (p=0.0001). Both parameters correlate in a moderated positive way (r=0.44;  α=0.05). The correlation is stronger between the high class (r=0.54), mainly when dealing with preschool girls (r=0.6). Keywords: Control when eating, pressure when eating, parenting, anthropometry, preschoolers