Journal of Obesity & Weight Loss Therapy
Open Access

Abstract

Obesity is the greatest concern among all risk factors of chronic non-communicable diseases. Kazakhstan also does not lag behind world trends. Thus, amount of children up to 5 years of age with overweight and obesity increased from 9% to 13.4% since 1995. The role of parents in maintaining children�s weight in norm is extremely important. We investigated awareness and attitudes regarding childhood obesity and nutrition of parents of children aged 9-10 years with normal weight (80 respondents) and obesity (80 respondents). Children�s weight status was determined in accordance with BMI-for-age standards of WHO: 97 and higher percentiles is considered as obesity, from 5 below 85 as normal weight. The majority of parents of children with obesity (74%) understood that their child had excess weight, however 20% of them believed that their child�s body weight is normal. 32.9% of parents of children with normal weight suspected their child was overweight. Parents of children with normal weight were more critical about the weight of their children and also paid more attention to the qualitative composition of food. Quantity of parents of children with normal weight who indicated health complications of obesity as a main reason for weight normalization in case of obesity was greater than number of the parents of children with obesity. The level of parents� awareness about risks of chronic non-communicable diseases related to obesity did not differ between two groups of parents.

Biography

Zhanar Tolysbayeva has completed her PhD in Medicine (Hygiene). She has worked at the Kazakh Academy of Nutrition as a Senior Researcher and has carried out investigations on food and behavioral factors contributing to childhood obesity, as part of a program of prevention of pediatric obesity in school-age children in Kazakhstan. Her interests cover popularization of healthy nutrition and elaboration of effective strategies for the promotion of healthy nutrition choices.