Food Intake and the Significance of Feeding in Qom Children of Northern Argentina

Caregiver Influences on Eating Behaviors in Children: An Opportunity for Preventing Obesity

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

This review seeks to define caregiver practices that impact childhood eating behaviors and identify ways to utilize these relationships to prevent childhood obesity.

RECENT FINDINGS

Childhood obesity, which correlates with adult obesity and increased cardiovascular risk, is increasing in prevalence and severity. Caregivers play a significant role in shaping a child's eating behaviors and their predisposition to obesity. Maternal influences during pregnancy and infancy impact a child's future food preferences. Caregiver feeding styles (authoritarian, authoritative, indulgent, and uninvolved) are associated with distinct effects on children's eating behaviors and self-regulation. Authoritative feeding styles promote child autonomy while setting boundaries in the feeding environment. Early caregiver education and coaching regarding nutrition and feeding practices is beneficial to establishing healthy eating behaviors for children. Various caregivers, including parents, grandparents, siblings, teachers, and others, influence a child's eating habits at different stages of development. These caregivers can both positively and negatively impact a child's diet. Comprehensive interventions involving these various caregivers to promote healthy eating practices in children is ideal. Such interventions should be sensitive to cultural and environmental factors. Childhood obesity is a complex issue with long-term health effects. Early intervention using comprehensive approaches including all caregivers, community support, and public policies to address the social determinants of health will be beneficial. Future research should focus on valid outcome measures and equitable interventions that encompass all aspects of a child's life.

Body norms, body image, and media in a market-integrating indigenous population in Argentina: A mixed-methods investigation

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between media, body norms, and body image among the Qom, a market-integrating indigenous population in Argentina that has historically idealized larger body sizes.

METHODS

With men and women (n = 87), we measured frequency of media/technology use through a Likert-type questionnaire. Using the Stunkard Figure Rating Scale, we asked participants to select the most healthy and ideal body size for their gender, as well as their own body size. We calculated body dissatisfaction as the difference between ideal and own body size. We conducted semi-structured interviews to describe the role of media in body norms and body image.

RESULTS

Media exposure was not significantly associated with perceptions of the "healthiest" or most "ideal" body sizes, nor body dissatisfaction. Men and women perceived categorically "middle-range" body sizes as both healthy and ideal, differing from a similar study in 2010, where larger bodies were favored. Interviews revealed that: media is not recognized as affecting body norms and body image, but is conceptually associated with cultural loss (Theme 1); a "dual stigma" of fatness and thinness is perpetuated by peers, family, and healthcare providers (Theme 2); and body acceptance is highly valued (Theme 3).

CONCLUSION

In this context, while some body norms have changed over time, the impact of media on body norms and image may be secondary to influences from individuals' social networks, and may be occluded by norms favoring body acceptance.

Determinants of Incident Stunting in Elementary School Children in Endemic Area Iodine Deficiency Disorders Enrekang Regency

BACKGROUND: Stunting is a global health emergency, including in Indonesia. The prevalence of childhood stunting in 2019 in Enrekang amounted to 44.8%. Enrekang Regency is the area with the highest stunting and is an endemic area. Iodine Deficiency Disorder (IDD) is thought to be correlated with the incidence of stunting. AIM: This study aims to identify the determinants of stunting in elementary school children in IDDs endemic areas in the Enrekang Regency. METHODS: An observational analytic study with a cross-sectional approach. The subjects of this study were mothers and their children aged 6–12 years. 100 total samples were collected based on the purposive sampling method. Collecting data using a questionnaire, FFQ, iodine test kit, microtia, and palpation. Data analysis using chi-square and logistic regression. RESULTS: The results showed that there was a relationship between maternal height (p = 0.020), diet (p = 0.049), PHBS practice (p = 0.012) on the incidence of stunting. While the use of iodized salt (p = 0.510) and palpation of the thyroid gland (p = 1000) were not associated with stunting. Lack of PHBS practices for children has a 6333-fold chance of experiencing stunting, while stunted mothers have a 5.583-fold chance of giving birth to stunting children. CONCLUSIONS: There is a relationship between mother’s height, child’s diet, and PHBS practice with stunting. Analysis of determinants related to the incidence of stunting is very important so that it becomes input and empirical evidence to the regional governments in formulating policies to overcome the problem of stunting, which is the highest in South Sulawesi.