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Parental Weight (Mis)Perceptions: Factors Influencing Parents’ Ability to Correctly Categorise Their Child’s Weight Status

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Abstract

This study investigates parents’ ability to correctly classify their child’s weight status. The influence of parent and child socio-demographic and lifestyle factors on parental misclassification of their child’s weight status is explored. A representative sample of Irish children (aged 5–12 (n = 596) years, aged 13–17 years (n = 441)) and their parents (n = 1885) were recruited to participate in a national dietary survey. Parental perceptions of their child’s weight and their own weight were measured. Anthropometric measurements (weight and height) were objectively measured for parents and children. Body Mass Index (BMI) scores were derived and categorised as normal, overweight or obese using standard references. Over 80% of parents of overweight boys and 79.3% of parents of overweight girls reported their child’s weight was fine for his/her height and age. Furthermore, 44.4% of parents of obese boys and 45.3% of parents of obese girls felt their child’s weight was fine for their height and age. Parents were significantly less likely to be correct about their sons’ weight status and more likely to be correct the older the child. Parents were over 86% less likely to be correct about their child’s weight if their child was overweight and approximately 59% less likely to be correct if the child was obese, compared to parents of normal weight children. This research suggests that parents are failing to recognise overweight and obesity in their children with factors such as parental weight status, child’s age and gender influencing this.

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Notes

  1. The terms child and children are used to refer to those aged 5–17 years old.

  2. This is the government body responsible for education in Ireland.

  3. No children in the sample were underweight.

  4. This is the qualification obtained on the successful completion of exams at the end of second level education (or high-school) in Ireland, usually at the age of 18.

  5. However, this category included Professional, Managerial and Technical occupations.

  6. A general power analysis was performed using the powerreg function in Stata. Though this analysis assumes a continuous dependent variable it should give a reasonable indication of the sample size required. The power analysis suggests that the sample size in this study should be adequate for conducting the current analysis.

  7. The maximum value for AUC is 1.

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Acknowledgments

This project was funded by the Irish Government under the National Development Plan 2000–2006. We acknowledge the Irish Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, for funding this analysis. The authors also acknowledge Professor Mario Cleves for his valuable advice on the analysis.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Economics, Finance and Marketing, RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia

    Eibhlin Hudson

  2. SafeFood, Block B Abbey Court, Dublin 1, Ireland

    Aileen McGloin

  3. School of Public Health, Physiotherapy and Population Science, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland

    Aine McConnon

Authors
  1. Eibhlin Hudson
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  2. Aileen McGloin
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  3. Aine McConnon
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Correspondence to Aine McConnon.

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Hudson, E., McGloin, A. & McConnon, A. Parental Weight (Mis)Perceptions: Factors Influencing Parents’ Ability to Correctly Categorise Their Child’s Weight Status. Matern Child Health J 16, 1801–1809 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10995-011-0927-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10995-011-0927-1

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