Abstract
ObjectiveRecognising overweight and obesity is critical to prompting action, and consequently preventing and treating obesity. The present study examined the association between parental perceptions of child weight status and child’s diet.MethodsParticipants were members of the Gateshead Millennium Study. Parental perception of their child’s weight status was assessed using a questionnaire and compared against International Obesity Task Force cut-offs for childhood overweight and obesity when the children were aged 6–8 years old. Diet was assessed at age 6-8years old using the FAST (Food Assessment in Schools Tool) food diary method. The association between parental perception and dietary patterns as defined by Principal Components Analysis, was assessed using multivariate regression after adjustment for child’s gender, child’s weight status, maternal body mass index (BMI), maternal education and deprivation status.ResultsOf the 361 parents who provided complete data on confounders and on their perception of their child’s weight status, 63 (17%) parents perceived their child as being of ‘normal’ weight or ‘overweight’ when they were actually ‘overweight’ or ‘obese’, respectively. After adjustment for confounders, parents who misperceived their child’s weight had children with a lower ‘healthy’ dietary pattern score compared to children whose parents correctly perceived their weight (β = -0.88; 95% CI: -1.7, -0.1; P-value = 0.028). This association was found despite higher consumption of reduced sugar carbonated drinks amongst children whose parents incorrectly perceived their weight status compared to children whose parents perceived their weight correctly (52.4% vs. 33.6%; P-value = 0.005).ConclusionsIn conclusion, children whose parents did not correctly perceive their weight status scored lower on the ‘healthy’ dietary pattern. Further research is required to define parents’ diets based on their perception status and to examine if a child’s or parent’s diet mediates the association between parental perception and child weight.
Highlights
Childhood overweight and obesity is a key public health priority [1]
After adjustment for confounders, parents who misperceived their child’s weight had children with a lower ‘healthy’ dietary pattern score compared to children whose parents correctly perceived their weight (β = -0.88; 95% CI: -1.7, -0.1; P-value = 0.028)
This association was found despite higher consumption of reduced sugar carbonated drinks amongst children whose parents incorrectly perceived their weight status compared to children whose parents perceived their weight correctly (52.4% vs. 33.6%; P-value = 0.005)
Summary
It is increasingly recognised that parents’ perceptions of their child’s weight status is an important factor when planning public health interventions to reduce the prevalence of overweight and obesity [1]. We have demonstrated that parents’ ability to recognise overweight is limited [2,3] These findings have been further supported by a recent review wherein 62.4% of parents were found to misperceive their child’s weight status [4]. Since parents who recognise their child’s weight status as a health problem are more likely to make changes to their children’s lifestyle [5,7], it is critical to understand if children whose parents correctly perceive their weight status have a healthier diet compared to parents who misperceive their child’s weight status. Several studies suggest that childhood obesity accounts for 25% of adult obesity and that overweight children have higher body mass index (BMI) trajectories in adulthood [4]
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