Lower parental numeracy is associated with children being under- and overweight

Mattea Dallacker; Ralph Hertwig; Ellen Peters; Jutta Mata

doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2016.06.006

Lower parental numeracy is associated with children being under- and overweight

Soc Sci Med. 2016 Jul:161:126-33. doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2016.06.006. Epub 2016 Jun 3.

Authors

Mattea Dallacker¹, Ralph Hertwig², Ellen Peters³, Jutta Mata⁴

Affiliations

¹ Center for Adaptive Rationality, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Lentzeallee 94, 14195 Berlin, Germany. Electronic address: dallacker@mpib-berlin.mpg.de.
² Center for Adaptive Rationality, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Lentzeallee 94, 14195 Berlin, Germany.
³ Department of Psychology, The Ohio State University, 1835 Neil Avenue, Columbus, 43210 Ohio, USA.
⁴ Center for Adaptive Rationality, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Lentzeallee 94, 14195 Berlin, Germany; Department of Psychology, University of Mannheim, L13, 17, 68138 Mannheim, Germany.

PMID: 27288909
DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2016.06.006

Abstract

Background: In adults, lower numeracy is associated with poorer nutrition label comprehension and higher BMI. It remains unclear whether parental numeracy also impacts children's body weight.

Purpose: We examined the relationship between parental numeracy and children's BMI z-scores and analyzed whether weight-related numerical information processing skills-specifically, portion-size estimation skills, comprehension of nutrition labels, and comprehension of growth charts-mediated that relationship.

Design and methods: Numeracy, portion-size estimation skills, comprehension of nutrition labels, and comprehension of growth charts were assessed in face-to-face interviews with 320 parents of children aged 6-12 years in Germany. Parent and child body weight were measured; parents reported both their own height and that of their children.

Results: Lower parental numeracy was significantly associated with having a child who was either underweight (β = 0.126, P = 0.048) or overweight (β = -0.299, P < 0.001). Lower parental numeracy was also associated with poorer portion-size estimation skills (r = -0.08, P = 0.023) and inferior comprehension of growth charts (r = 0.33, P < 0.001) and nutrition labels (r = 0.26, P < 0.001). However, these weight-related numerical information processing skills did not mediate the association between parental numeracy and children's BMI.

Conclusion: This study is the first to find lower parental numeracy to be a risk factor for children being either over- or underweight. However, portion-size estimation skills, comprehension of nutrition labels, and comprehension of growth charts did not mediate the association between parental numeracy and children's BMI. The present findings thus winnow down the set of mechanisms potentially underlying this association. Parental numeracy is an as yet largely overlooked factor that can be targeted when developing interventions to prevent and treat malnutrition and to achieve and maintain a healthy body weight in children.

Keywords: Body mass index; Children; Germany; Growth charts; Numeracy; Nutrition labeling; Portion size.

MeSH terms

Adult
Body Mass Index
Body Weight*
Child
Comprehension*
Female
Food Labeling*
Germany
Health Literacy / standards*
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Overweight
Parents / psychology*
Risk Factors
Surveys and Questionnaires
Thinness