Accuracy of weight perception following KidQuest intervention in rural South Dakota elementary students

Abstract

The objectives were to determine: 1) accuracy of rural South Dakota 5th and 6th graders’ perception of their weight status compared to BMI and 2) if the KidQuest nutrition and physical activity program improved accuracy of weight status perception. Five schools were randomly assigned and 76 children (56% male; 47% received KidQuest intervention) participated. Children in underweight and normal categories were more likely to perceive themselves as heavier and children in overweight and obese categories were more likely to perceive themselves as lighter. Ordinal logistic regression was performed with the discrepancy score at baseline as the dependent variable and gender, intervention status, and BMI category as predictors. Males were more likely to perceive themselves as lighter than females (OR = 4.4, p < 0.01, adjusted for BMI). Compared to the normal weight category, children in the overweight and obese categories were much more likely to perceive themselves as lighter (OR = 66 for overweight and OR = 2512 for obese; both p < 0.001). For the association of intervention and change in perception, intervention females (24%) were more likely to change (p = 0.04) towards accurate perception than controls (0%) with no association for males. This suggests the intervention improved the accuracy of females’ assessment while having no influence on males.Grant Funding Source: USDA NIFA Competitive Grant 2011 67002 30202 and USDA, SD Agricultural Experiment Station Grant SD00H249–08