BOSTON — Many parents of children who are overwieght or those at risk for becoming overweight don't perceive their children's weight accurately, Patricia A. Cluss, Ph.D., and colleagues said in a poster presentation at the annual meeting of the Society of Behavioral Medicine.
These findings “have significant implications for public health and clinical interventions aimed at decreasing the pediatric obesity epidemic,” wrote Dr. Cluss and her associates.
Parental awareness of and concern that their child's weight is above the normal range is “intrinsic to the success” of physicians' efforts to identify and target children for prevention or intervention, she said in an oral presentation.
To determine the accuracy of parental weight perceptions, the parents of 616 children aged 3–12 years seen at two community pediatric practices completed eight-item, self-administered questionnaires. Medical assistants weighed, measured, and calculated the children's body mass index (BMI).
The study included 281 girls and 335 boys. Of the girls, 15% were at risk for being overweight, with BMIs in the 85th to 94th percentiles, and 25% were overweight, with BMIs above the 94th percentile. Using the same criteria, 15% of the boys were at risk for being overweight, and 22% were overweight.
Only 49% of parents surveyed accurately recognized their overweight children as being overweight, reported Dr. Cluss of the University of Pittsburgh.
“The parents of overweight girls were more likely to accurately perceive their child as being overweight, compared [with] the parents of boys, particularly preadolescents,” said Dr. Cluss. While 63% of overweight girls' parents recognized their children's weight status, only 29% of overweight boys' parents had accurate perceptions.
The results also showed that parental perceptions were more often correct for children aged 6–12 years than for children younger than 6 years old.
Only 8% of the parents whose children were at risk for becoming overweight were aware of it.
The findings add to a growing body of data indicating that many parents do not correctly perceive their child's weight status—a fact that may hinder parents' readiness to engage with the pediatrician in tracking and intervention strategies, said Dr. Cluss.
As such, physicians “have an important role to play in identifying at-risk children and communicating early concern to parents,” she said.
In addition, special attention should be given to communicating with parents of younger children who may be overweight or at risk of becoming so and with parents of overweight boys, considering both groups had low accuracy rates, Dr. Cluss said.