TABLE 3.
Relationships of parents’ perceived self and child weight and concern about future child overweight/obesity with beliefs about brain influences on obesity
| Perceived self-weight | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Study 1: ‘What do you think causes obesity?’ [1–5] | |||
| Underweight (N = 2) | Just Right (N = 22) | Overweight (N = 64) | ANOVA |
| 2.50 (2.12) | 3.41 (0.91) | 3.53 (1.05) | F(2,85) = 1.1, p = 0.34 |
| Study 1: ‘Person [X] is high in [factor]. How responsible is person X for their obesity’? [1–100] | |||
| Underweight (N = 2) | Just Right (N = 22) | Overweight (N = 64) | ANOVA |
| 54.0 (5.7) | 48.4 (23.6) | 40.4 (22.4) | F(2,84) = 1.3, p = 0.29 |
| Study 2: ‘If a child is overweight, what do you think are the causes?’ [1–5] | |||
| Underweight (N = 19) | Just Right (N = 178) | Overweight (N = 79) | ANOVA |
| 3.37 (0.76) | 3.54 (0.91) | 3.68 (0.79) | F(2, 271) = 1.2, p = 0.29 |
| Study 3: ‘How important is this in determining your child’s future weight?’ [1–5] | |||
| Underweight (N = 2) | Just Right (N = 62) | Overweight (N = 49) | ANOVA |
| 3.47 (1.17) | 2.95 (0.89) | 3.27 (0.92) | F(2,110) = 1.9, p = 0.16 |
| Study 3: ‘To what extent does this mean your child will have less control over his/her future weight?’ [1–5] | |||
| Underweight (N = 2) | Just Right (N = 62) | Overweight (N = 49) | ANOVA |
| 2.42 (0.0) | 2.76 (0.86) | 3.08 (0.82) | F(2,110) = 2.4, p = 0.09 |
| Perceived Child Weight | |||
| Study 1 ‘What do you think causes obesity?’ | |||
| Underweight (N = 9) | Just Right (N = 60) | Overweight (N = 19) | ANOVA |
| 2.89 (1.05) | 3.52 (1.07) | 3.48 (1.04) | F(2,85) = 1.7, p = 0.19 |
| Study 1: ‘Person [X] is high in [factor]. How responsible is person X for their obesity’? | |||
| Underweight (N = 9) | Just Right (N = 60) | Overweight (N = 19) | ANOVA |
| 42.4 (20.5) | 43.3 (23.2) | 41.3 (23.1) | F(2,84) = 0.05, p = 0.95 |
| Study 2: ‘If a child is overweight, what do you think are the causes?’ | |||
| Underweight (N = 70) | Just Right (N = 176) | Overweight (N = 31) | ANOVA |
| 3.60 (0.69) | 2.48 (0.93) | 4.06 (0.77) |
F(2, 271) = 6.3, p = 0.002 O-JR: p = 0.001; O-U: p = 0.03 |
| Study 3: ‘How important is this in determining your child’s future weight?’ | |||
| Underweight (N = 16) | Just Right (N = 87) | Overweight (N = 10) | ANOVA |
| 2.83 (1.16) | 3.06 (0.84) | 3.87 (0.82) |
F(2,110) = 4.6, p = 0.012 O-JR: p = 0.02; O-U: p = 0.01 |
| Study 3: ‘To what extent does this mean your child will have less control over his/her future weight?’ | |||
| Underweight (N = 16) | Just Right (N = 87) | Overweight (N = 10) | ANOVA |
| 2.58 (0.98) | 2.86 (0.79) | 3.71 (0.85) |
F(2,110) = 6.3, p = 0.003 O-JR: p = 0.006; O-U: p = 0.002 |
| Concern about future child overweight/obesity | |||
| Study 1: ‘What do you think causes obesity?’ | |||
| None (N = 39) | Some (N = 35) | High (N = 14) | ANOVA |
| 3.31 (1.15) | 3.57 (1.01) | 3.71 (0.73) | F(2,85) = 1.0, p = 0.36 |
| Study 1: ‘Person [X] is high in [factor]. How responsible is person X for their obesity’? | |||
| None (N = 39) | Some (N = 35) | High (N = 14) | ANOVA |
| 40.8 (22.5) | 44.9 (20.9) | 42.6 (28.0) | F(2,84) = 0.3, p = 0.75 |
| Study 2: ‘If a child is overweight, what do you think are the causes?’ | |||
| None (N = 86) | Some (N = 152) | High (N = 36) | ANOVA |
| 3.42 (0.83) | 3.63 (0.88) | 3.69 (0.92) | F(2, 271) = 2.0, p = 0.14 |
| Study 3: ‘How important is this in determining your child’s future weight?’ | |||
| None (N = 37) | Some (N = 50) | High (N = 26) | ANOVA |
| 3.05 (0.93) | 2.84 (0.84) | 3.66 (0.80) |
F(2,110) = 6.4, p = 0.002 H-S: p = 0.02; H-N: p < 0.000 |
| Study 3: ‘To what extent does this mean your child will have less control over his/her future weight?’ | |||
| None (N = 37) | Some (N = 50) | High (N = 26) | ANOVA |
| 2.82 (0.88) | 2.71 (0.82) | 3.35 (0.72) |
F(2,110) = 5.4, p = 0.006 H-S: p = 0.005; H-N: p = 0.04 |
Note: Relationships between parents’ perceived self-weight, perceived child weight, and concern about future child overweight/obesity with beliefs about brain influences on obesity are presented in Table 3. One-way ANOVA was used to test for group differences in brain beliefs (significant effects in bold) and Tukey HSD post-hoc tests were to test pairwise group differences (O = overweight; JR = Just Right; U=Underweight; N=None; S=Some; H=High). Mean and standard deviation as presented as M (SD).