Change in Misperception of Child's Body Weight among Parents of American Preschool Children

Duncan, Dustin T.; Hansen, Andrew R.; Wang, Wei; Yan, Fei; Zhang, Jian

doi:10.1089/chi.2014.0104

Cited by 49 publications

(35 citation statements)

References 49 publications

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“…Burke and colleagues 54 reported conceptually similar findings in the US participants: from 1988 to 2004, a period that was associated with rapid increases in population‐level weight gain in the USA, men and women with overweight or obesity became less likely to identify their weight status as being ‘overweight’. A similar pattern of findings has been reported in longitudinal studies examining weight status misperceptions using other US data, among European adults and in studies that have examined temporal changes in parental underestimation of child overweight status over time 13, 55, 56. These findings indicate that as larger body weights have become more common, the tendency for overweight and obesity to go undetected has increased.…”

Section: Surrounded By Obesity and Failing To See Itsupporting

confidence: 80%

“…One prediction of this theory is that under‐detection should have become more common as the obesity epidemic has unfolded. In support of this, a number of longitudinal studies have documented that the tendency for individuals with overweight to fail to identify their adiposity and parental underestimation of child overweight have increased concurrently alongside population obesity prevalence 13, 14, 54, 55, 56. Johnson and colleagues examined self‐perceived overweight between 1999 and 2007 in the UK adults and found that during this period of population weight gain, the percentage of individuals with overweight or obesity underestimating their weight status increased.…”

Section: Surrounded By Obesity and Failing To See Itmentioning

confidence: 95%

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Overweight but unseen: a review of the underestimation of weight status and a visual normalization theory

2017

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SummaryAlthough overweight and obesity are widespread across most of the developed world, a considerable body of research has now accumulated, which suggests that adiposity often goes undetected. A substantial proportion of individuals with overweight or obesity do not identify they are overweight, and large numbers of parents of children with overweight or obesity fail to identify their child as being overweight. Lay people and medical practitioners are also now poor at identifying overweight and obesity in others. A visual normalization theory of the under‐detection of overweight and obesity is proposed. This theory is based on the notion that weight status is judged relative to visual body size norms. Because larger body sizes are now common, this has caused a recalibration to the range of body sizes that are perceived as being ‘normal’ and increased the visual threshold for what constitutes ‘overweight’. Evidence is reviewed that indicates this process has played a significant role in the under‐detection of overweight and obesity. The public health relevance of the under‐detection of overweight and obesity is also discussed.

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Section: Surrounded By Obesity and Failing To See Itsupporting

confidence: 80%

Section: Surrounded By Obesity and Failing To See Itmentioning

confidence: 95%

Overweight but unseen: a review of the underestimation of weight status and a visual normalization theory

2017

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“…30 Their study treated 2007-2012 as one time block to compare with 1988-1994, rather than examining a more precise biennial trend. Similar analyses were performed for parents' perception about school-aged children (aged 6-11 years) by Hansen et al 37 and preschool children (aged 2-5 years) by Duncan et al, 38 concluding that there was a potential generational shift involving parental body weight perception about their children over the last few decades. In addition, several studies [39][40][41] found that HCP notification about a child's unhealthy weight has increased significantly over time, based on NHANES data obtained between 1999 and 2014.…”

mentioning

confidence: 76%

Trends of Child's Weight Perception by Children, Parents, and Healthcare Professionals during the Time of Terminology Change in Childhood Obesity in the United States, 2005–2014

et al. 2016

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Objective: To investigate the changes on self-and parental weight perceptions and parental communication with healthcare professionals (HCPs) in the United States during the mid-2000s period when the terminology changed for classifications of childhood obesity/overweight.Methods: A repeated cross-sectional study was conducted with 6799 children aged 8-15 years with the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2005-2014. BMI was calculated from objectively measured heights and weights, and children were classified as normal/underweight, overweight or obese, using the new terminology. Children reported their own weight status. Parents reported their child's weight status and reported how HCPs described their children's weight status. Logistic regressions were used to investigate changes in weight perceptions among overweight/obese children themselves and their parents and parental communication with HCPs about children's overweight/obesity status during the time of the terminology change.Results Conclusions: Although the terminology change about childhood obesity/overweight was associated with increased communication about child's weight status by HCPs, the accuracy of weight perceptions among obese/overweight children or their parents did not improve or declined.

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“…A common assumption is that parental failure to recognise childhood overweight is a major public health concern 7–9 since parents regulate both what a child eats and his/her opportunities for physical activity. Parental perceptions of child weight status are a key part of many obesity intervention and prevention programs, such as school measurement programmes in the UK and US, in which parents receive feedback about their child’s weight status 10–12 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Parental Perception of Weight Status and Weight Gain Across Childhood

Robinson

Sutin

2016

Pediatrics

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Background and Objectives Parents of children who are overweight often fail to accurately identify their child’s weight status. Although these misperceptions are presumed to be a major public health concern, little research has examined whether parental perceptions of child weight status are protective against weight gain during childhood. Our objective was to examine whether parental perceptions of child weight status are associated with weight gain across childhood. Methods Data from the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children were used to assess parental perceptions of child weight status and to examine changes in researcher measured child BMI-Z scores across childhood, from 4 to 13 years old. 3,557 Australian children and their parents participated. Results Children whose parents perceived their weight as being ‘overweight’, as opposed to ‘about the right weight’, gained more weight (increase in BMI-Z score) from baseline to follow up in all analyses. This finding did not depend on the actual weight of the child; the association between perceiving one’s child as being overweight and future weight gain was similar among children whose parents accurately and inaccurately believed their child was overweight. Conclusions Contrary to popular belief, parental identification of child overweight is not protective against further weight gain. Rather, it is associated with more weight gain across childhood. Further research is needed to understand how parental perceptions of child weight may counter-intuitively contribute to obesity.

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Change in Misperception of Child's Body Weight among Parents of American Preschool Children

Abstract: There was a declining tendency among parents to perceive overweight children appropriately. Strategies are needed to explore how to encourage clinician discussions with parents about appropriate weight for their child and strengthen capacity for childhood obesity prevention.

Cited by 49 publications

References 49 publications

Overweight but unseen: a review of the underestimation of weight status and a visual normalization theory

Overweight but unseen: a review of the underestimation of weight status and a visual normalization theory

Trends of Child's Weight Perception by Children, Parents, and Healthcare Professionals during the Time of Terminology Change in Childhood Obesity in the United States, 2005–2014

Parental Perception of Weight Status and Weight Gain Across Childhood

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