Abstract
Aim: In this study it was aimed to determine parents’ beliefs about childhood Obesity.Material and Methods: The study was conducted on a total of 187 parents who have 4-14 years old children in Ankara andvolunteered to participate to the study. The data of the study were collected by questionnaire. The questionnaire consisted ofthe two sections, one of which was general information while the other was beliefs of parents about childhhod obesity. To determineparents beliefs it was used 'Parents Beliefs about Childhood Obesity' scale developed by Beverly Wallpole and BarbaraMorrongiello (2008) (cronbach alpha=0.78). The scale is likert type and it consists of 85 items and 8 sub-dimensions. The highscore on the scale indicates that the families direct their children to the right behavior to prevent obesity. The total scores theparents received from the scale were analyzed according to their educational status, weight status, and child’s age and weightstatus.
Results: The average score of the parents was 298.8 + 20.8. It has been determined that parents 'beliefs on obesity scale do notcorrelate with parents' and children's obesity status. However, the scores were related to the child's age and education status ofparents.
Conclusion: Parents, regardless of their own body weight and the body weight of the child, merely direct their childrentowards right behavior with an increase in their education levels. At the same time, as the child's age progresses, the barrierswhich parents’ makes to prevent obesity were also increase. This has led to the conclusion that the education of the child caregiversis effective in creating the right eating habits and a healthy lifestyle.