Introduction. Research has shown that the development of childhood obesity is determined by multiple characteristics, including complex interactions between the child, its family and social factors. The child’s diet is a key factor in shaping the child’s body weight. The mother is usually the most is responsible for her child’s diet. Maternal decisions concerning her child’s diet are influenced by social and psychological factors. Eating maturity (EM), which is a psychological factor, initiates and controls one’s eating behaviors. Aim. The aim of this study was to explore the relationships between maternal eating maturity and the child’s body weight. Material and methods. The research was based/conducted on a sample of 400 Polish mothers of preschool children. The Questionnaire of Eating Maturity and a sociodemographic survey of our own design were used. Results and conclusions. We have found that the child’s BMI decreased with the increase of maternal eating maturity (r = - 0.16; p < 0.05). The analysis of variance (ANOVA) indicated that maternal eating maturity [F(2.397) = 9.5893; p > 0.05] was a statistically significant source of child’s BMI variation. The post hoc tests showed that children of mothers a with high level of eating maturity, had a significantly lower BMI value than children of mothers with a low or average level of eating maturity (p = 0.0009). The level of maternal eating maturity significantly influences the risk level of child’s overeating and health problems. Thus, eating maturity may be perceived as an important factor in the childhood obesity development. Since eating maturity is an individual and modifiable characteristic, it is worth involving the EA in psychological interventions aimed at the psychological personal resources development, as well as obesity and other diet-dependent diseases prevention.

Key words: eating maturity, eating behaviors, childhood obesity, BMI, parents.