Objectives: To explore attitudes to and beliefs about childhood overweight and obesity among Bangladeshi mothers and to check maternal perceptions of their children’s weight status.
Design: Mixed methods cross-sectional study.
Setting: A general practice in East London, UK.
Methods: Qualitative interviews with 14 mothers; weighing and measuring 22 children.
Results: Mothers were generally aware of broad health promotion messages about diet and exercise, but many tended to under-estimate their children’s weight status. Differences in view did not reflect in any simple way English language skills, and the range of views reflected those in the majority population.
Conclusion: Health promotion initiatives should assess individual needs; membership of a Bangladeshi community does not necessarily predict knowledge, beliefs or behaviour, and assumptions that this community is different from others are misleading.