Parental and Self-Weight Perceptions in U.S. Children and Adolescents,NHANES 2005-2014

Abstract

This study aimed to describe the parental and child self-weight perceptions and their associated sociodemographic factors. The 2005-2014 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) sample of 16,869 children aged 2 to 17 years was used. For overweight/obese children aged 2 to 15 years, 61.2% of parents underestimated their child’s weight. For overweight/obese children aged 8 to 17 years, 55.2% underestimated their own weight. For children aged 8 to 15 years, 77.8% parents and children agreed on the weight classification. Parents of boys and those with low income were more likely to underestimate their child’s weight. Girls, older children, and those living in larger or high-income families were less likely to underestimate their own weight. Hispanic and Black children tended to underestimate their weight. With increasing child age, parents and children were more likely to disagree on the child’s weight. Future efforts should focus on low-income families with larger number of children and Hispanic and Black young children who were more likely to underestimate their weight.