Maternal nutrition knowledge is inversely related to both maternal and child weight status

Previous studies have shown that nutrition knowledge impacts diet quality even after controlling for

individual differences in socioeconomic status. However, the relationship between nutrition knowledge and body weight is less well known.

This laboratory-based study was designed to characterize the relationship between children’s liking and

intake of common meal items. As a secondary aim we hypothesized that higher maternal nutrition knowledge would be negatively associated with both maternal and child weight status.

The current analyses are part of a cross-sectional study that took place over two laboratory visits. On the

first visit, mothers who reported being primarily in charge of feeding (n=45) completed two 70 question

quizzes testing their knowledge of various nutrition concepts ranging in difficulty. Child height and

weight were measured and recorded on the first visit. Maternal height and weight were self-reported

and converted to body mass index (BMI). Data were analyzed using Pearson’s bivariate correlations and linear regressions.

Mothers’ score on the first nutrition knowledge survey were unrelated to maternal BMI (r= .25, p=10)

and child BMI z-score (r= .15, p=.28). However, on the second more challenging survey maternal

nutrition knowledge was negatively related to both maternal BMI (r= -.39, p=.02) and child BMI z-score

(r=-0.34, p=.02). After controlling for income, the relationship between maternal nutrition knowledge

and maternal weight status remained significant (p=0.03), but the relationship between maternal nutrition knowledge and child weight status was no longer significant (p=0.09).

These results indicate that higher levels of maternal nutrition knowledge may be related to lower levels

of maternal and child obesity. Additional research is needed to determine if teaching parents nutrition-

based knowledge will help prevent the development of obesity.