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Parental Misperceptions of Children’s Underweight Status: A Meta-analysis

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Annals of Behavioral Medicine

Abstract

Background

Accurate parental perceptions of their children’s underweight status are needed to prevent overlooking potential disordered eating patterns or health conditions affecting growth.

Purpose

The aim of this study is to determine overall proportion of parents who misperceive children’s underweight status and correlates of such misperceptions.

Methods

Original studies published to January 2013 were chosen through a literature search in established databases. Studies included assessed parental perceptions of their children’s underweight and then compared perceptions to recognized standards for defining underweight based on anthropometric measures. Random- and mixed-effects models were used.

Results

Thirty-seven articles (representing 39 studies; N = 4,039) were included. Pooled effect sizes indicated that 46.58 % (95 % CI 40.90–52.35 %) of parents misperceive their children’s underweight status, though the extent of misperceptions depended on a number of moderators.

Conclusions

Nearly half of parents perceive their underweight children as weighing more than they actually do. Health care professionals are well positioned to take steps to remedy misperceptions and encourage healthy behaviors.

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The authors have no conflict of interest to disclose.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of Nebraska–Lincoln, 238 Burnett Hall, Lincoln, NE, 68588, USA

    Alyssa Lundahl BA, Katherine M. Kidwell BA & Timothy D. Nelson PhD

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  1. Alyssa Lundahl BA
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  2. Katherine M. Kidwell BA
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Correspondence to Alyssa Lundahl BA.

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Lundahl, A., Kidwell, K.M. & Nelson, T.D. Parental Misperceptions of Children’s Underweight Status: A Meta-analysis. ann. behav. med. 48, 184–193 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12160-013-9587-2

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