In conclusion, a significant proportion of parents of overweight/obese preschoolers, including
children with asthma, food allergy, or both, underestimated their child’s weight status. Parents of
children with both asthma and food allergy showed the greatest concern for their child’s weight, and
their concern was most strongly associated with child’s BMI percentiles in this group. This concern,
however, did not appear to translate into differences in the use of restriction, monitoring, or pressure to
eat between children with no asthma or food allergy and those with asthma, food allergy, or both.
Therefore these parents may ignore health messages targeting obesity prevention, thus increasing their
children’s likelihood for obesity.