Accuracy of weight status perception in contemporary Australian children and adolescents

Aim:  To explore weight status perception and its relation to actual weight status in a contemporary cohort of 5‐ to 17‐year‐old children and adolescents. Methods:  Body mass index (BMI), derived from height and weight measurements, and perception of weight status (‘too thin’, ‘about right’ and ‘too...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of paediatrics and child health 2010-06, Vol.46 (6), p.343-348
Main Authors: Abbott, Rebecca A, Lee, Amanda J, Stubbs, Christina O, Davies, Peter SW
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Anthropometry
Australia
Body Image
Body Mass Index
Body Weight - physiology
Child
Child health
children
Children & youth
Female
Healthy Kids Queensland Survey
Humans
Male
Obesity
parent
Parents
Parents & parenting
Pediatrics
Perception
Perceptions
Surveys
Surveys and Questionnaires
Teenagers
weight status
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
cited_by cdi_FETCH-LOGICAL-c4969-3e2519ab9d421dc72965e6987b373f5a0b3b5f0411708ce02f5178ffa91fc48f3
cites cdi_FETCH-LOGICAL-c4969-3e2519ab9d421dc72965e6987b373f5a0b3b5f0411708ce02f5178ffa91fc48f3
container_end_page 348
container_issue 6
container_start_page 343
container_title Journal of paediatrics and child health
container_volume 46
creator Abbott, Rebecca A
Lee, Amanda J
Stubbs, Christina O
Davies, Peter SW
description Aim:  To explore weight status perception and its relation to actual weight status in a contemporary cohort of 5‐ to 17‐year‐old children and adolescents. Methods:  Body mass index (BMI), derived from height and weight measurements, and perception of weight status (‘too thin’, ‘about right’ and ‘too fat’) were evaluated in 3043 participants from the Healthy Kids Queensland Survey. In children less than 12 years of age, weight status perception was obtained from the parents, whereas the adolescents self‐reported their perceived weight status. Results:  Compared with measured weight status by established BMI cut‐offs, just over 20% of parents underestimated their child's weight status and only 1% overestimated. Adolescent boys were more likely to underestimate their weight status compared with girls (26.4% vs. 10.2%, P < 0.05) whereas adolescent girls were more likely to overestimate than underestimate (11.8% vs. 3.4%, P < 0.05). Underestimation was greater by parents of overweight children compared with those of obese children, but still less than 50% of parents identified their obese child as ‘too fat’. There was greater recognition of overweight status in the adolescents, with 83% of those who were obese reporting they were ‘too fat’. Conclusion:  Whilst there was a high degree of accuracy of weight status perception in those of healthy weight, there was considerable underestimation of weight status, particularly by parents of children who were overweight or obese. Strategies are required that enable parents to identify what a healthy weight looks like and help them understand when intervention is needed to prevent further weight gain as the child gets older.
doi_str_mv 10.1111/j.1440-1754.2010.01719.x
format article
fullrecord <record><control><sourceid>proquest_istex</sourceid><recordid>TN_cdi_istex_primary_ark_67375_WNG_8PFSS3R9_D</recordid><sourceformat>XML</sourceformat><sourcesystem>PC</sourcesystem><informt_id>10.3316/ielapa.201008871</informt_id><sourcerecordid>2063017961</sourcerecordid><originalsourceid>FETCH-LOGICAL-c4969-3e2519ab9d421dc72965e6987b373f5a0b3b5f0411708ce02f5178ffa91fc48f3</originalsourceid><addsrcrecordid>eNqNkMFv0zAYxSMEYmPwL6CIC6d0duzE9oFDVehgmmBiILh9chx7dUnjYDta-9_jNKMHTvhi6_vee3r-ZVmO0QKnc7ldYEpRgVlFFyVKU4QZFov9k-z8tHia3ojQgnKMzrIXIWwRQmVV8efZWYkoLini59nPpVKjl-qQO5M_aHu_iXmIMo4hH7RXeojW9bntc-X6qHeD89If8uUYopedlWm-sV3rdZ_Lvs1l6zodlO5jeJk9M7IL-tXjfZF9X3_4tvpY3Hy5-rRa3hSKiloURJcVFrIRLS1xq1gp6krXgrOGMGIqiRrSVCbVxQxxpVFpKsy4MVJgoyg35CJ7O-cO3v0edYiws6lB18leuzEAI0SIuqxRUr75R7l1o-9TOagQZQkZKpOIzyLlXQheGxi83aU_A0YwsYctTIhhQgwTeziyh32yvn7MH5udbk_Gv7CT4N0seLCdPvx3MFzfrqZX8q9nv9_ZCHKQJsImxiFAK6ME2xt33Dh_D62zUzAhuAaruyQ-ZiLOGU5BxRxkQ9T7UxHpf0HNCKvgx-cr4LfruzvyVcB78gcXjLn9</addsrcrecordid><sourcetype>Aggregation Database</sourcetype><iscdi>true</iscdi><recordtype>article</recordtype><pqid>504775402</pqid></control><display><type>article</type><title>Accuracy of weight status perception in contemporary Australian children and adolescents</title><source>Wiley</source><creator>Abbott, Rebecca A ; Lee, Amanda J ; Stubbs, Christina O ; Davies, Peter SW</creator><creatorcontrib>Abbott, Rebecca A ; Lee, Amanda J ; Stubbs, Christina O ; Davies, Peter SW</creatorcontrib><description>Aim:  To explore weight status perception and its relation to actual weight status in a contemporary cohort of 5‐ to 17‐year‐old children and adolescents. Methods:  Body mass index (BMI), derived from height and weight measurements, and perception of weight status (‘too thin’, ‘about right’ and ‘too fat’) were evaluated in 3043 participants from the Healthy Kids Queensland Survey. In children less than 12 years of age, weight status perception was obtained from the parents, whereas the adolescents self‐reported their perceived weight status. Results:  Compared with measured weight status by established BMI cut‐offs, just over 20% of parents underestimated their child's weight status and only 1% overestimated. Adolescent boys were more likely to underestimate their weight status compared with girls (26.4% vs. 10.2%, P &lt; 0.05) whereas adolescent girls were more likely to overestimate than underestimate (11.8% vs. 3.4%, P &lt; 0.05). Underestimation was greater by parents of overweight children compared with those of obese children, but still less than 50% of parents identified their obese child as ‘too fat’. There was greater recognition of overweight status in the adolescents, with 83% of those who were obese reporting they were ‘too fat’. Conclusion:  Whilst there was a high degree of accuracy of weight status perception in those of healthy weight, there was considerable underestimation of weight status, particularly by parents of children who were overweight or obese. Strategies are required that enable parents to identify what a healthy weight looks like and help them understand when intervention is needed to prevent further weight gain as the child gets older.</description><identifier>ISSN: 1034-4810</identifier><identifier>EISSN: 1440-1754</identifier><identifier>DOI: 10.1111/j.1440-1754.2010.01719.x</identifier><identifier>PMID: 20412408</identifier><language>eng</language><publisher>Melbourne, Australia: Blackwell Publishing Asia</publisher><subject>Adolescent ; Anthropometry ; Australia ; Body Image ; Body Mass Index ; Body Weight - physiology ; Child ; Child health ; children ; Children &amp; youth ; Female ; Healthy Kids Queensland Survey ; Humans ; Male ; Obesity ; parent ; Parents ; Parents &amp; parenting ; Pediatrics ; Perception ; Perceptions ; Surveys ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Teenagers ; weight status</subject><ispartof>Journal of paediatrics and child health, 2010-06, Vol.46 (6), p.343-348</ispartof><rights>2010 The Authors. Journal compilation © 2010 Paediatrics and Child Health Division (Royal Australasian College of Physicians)</rights><rights>Journal compilation © 2010 Paediatrics and Child Health Division (Royal Australasian College of Physicians)</rights><lds50>peer_reviewed</lds50><woscitedreferencessubscribed>false</woscitedreferencessubscribed><citedby>FETCH-LOGICAL-c4969-3e2519ab9d421dc72965e6987b373f5a0b3b5f0411708ce02f5178ffa91fc48f3</citedby><cites>FETCH-LOGICAL-c4969-3e2519ab9d421dc72965e6987b373f5a0b3b5f0411708ce02f5178ffa91fc48f3</cites></display><links><openurl>$$Topenurl_article</openurl><openurlfulltext>$$Topenurlfull_article</openurlfulltext><thumbnail>$$Tsyndetics_thumb_exl</thumbnail><linktopdf>$$Uhttps://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111%2Fj.1440-1754.2010.01719.x$$EPDF$$P50$$Gwiley$$H</linktopdf><linktohtml>$$Uhttps://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111%2Fj.1440-1754.2010.01719.x$$EHTML$$P50$$Gwiley$$H</linktohtml><link.rule.ids>315,786,790,27957,27958,50923,51032</link.rule.ids><backlink>$$Uhttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20412408$$D View this record in MEDLINE/PubMed$$Hfree_for_read</backlink></links><search><creatorcontrib>Abbott, Rebecca A</creatorcontrib><creatorcontrib>Lee, Amanda J</creatorcontrib><creatorcontrib>Stubbs, Christina O</creatorcontrib><creatorcontrib>Davies, Peter SW</creatorcontrib><title>Accuracy of weight status perception in contemporary Australian children and adolescents</title><title>Journal of paediatrics and child health</title><addtitle>J Paediatr Child Health</addtitle><description>Aim:  To explore weight status perception and its relation to actual weight status in a contemporary cohort of 5‐ to 17‐year‐old children and adolescents. Methods:  Body mass index (BMI), derived from height and weight measurements, and perception of weight status (‘too thin’, ‘about right’ and ‘too fat’) were evaluated in 3043 participants from the Healthy Kids Queensland Survey. In children less than 12 years of age, weight status perception was obtained from the parents, whereas the adolescents self‐reported their perceived weight status. Results:  Compared with measured weight status by established BMI cut‐offs, just over 20% of parents underestimated their child's weight status and only 1% overestimated. Adolescent boys were more likely to underestimate their weight status compared with girls (26.4% vs. 10.2%, P &lt; 0.05) whereas adolescent girls were more likely to overestimate than underestimate (11.8% vs. 3.4%, P &lt; 0.05). Underestimation was greater by parents of overweight children compared with those of obese children, but still less than 50% of parents identified their obese child as ‘too fat’. There was greater recognition of overweight status in the adolescents, with 83% of those who were obese reporting they were ‘too fat’. Conclusion:  Whilst there was a high degree of accuracy of weight status perception in those of healthy weight, there was considerable underestimation of weight status, particularly by parents of children who were overweight or obese. Strategies are required that enable parents to identify what a healthy weight looks like and help them understand when intervention is needed to prevent further weight gain as the child gets older.</description><subject>Adolescent</subject><subject>Anthropometry</subject><subject>Australia</subject><subject>Body Image</subject><subject>Body Mass Index</subject><subject>Body Weight - physiology</subject><subject>Child</subject><subject>Child health</subject><subject>children</subject><subject>Children &amp; youth</subject><subject>Female</subject><subject>Healthy Kids Queensland Survey</subject><subject>Humans</subject><subject>Male</subject><subject>Obesity</subject><subject>parent</subject><subject>Parents</subject><subject>Parents &amp; parenting</subject><subject>Pediatrics</subject><subject>Perception</subject><subject>Perceptions</subject><subject>Surveys</subject><subject>Surveys and Questionnaires</subject><subject>Teenagers</subject><subject>weight status</subject><issn>1034-4810</issn><issn>1440-1754</issn><fulltext>true</fulltext><rsrctype>article</rsrctype><creationdate>2010</creationdate><recordtype>article</recordtype><recordid>eNqNkMFv0zAYxSMEYmPwL6CIC6d0duzE9oFDVehgmmBiILh9chx7dUnjYDta-9_jNKMHTvhi6_vee3r-ZVmO0QKnc7ldYEpRgVlFFyVKU4QZFov9k-z8tHia3ojQgnKMzrIXIWwRQmVV8efZWYkoLini59nPpVKjl-qQO5M_aHu_iXmIMo4hH7RXeojW9bntc-X6qHeD89If8uUYopedlWm-sV3rdZ_Lvs1l6zodlO5jeJk9M7IL-tXjfZF9X3_4tvpY3Hy5-rRa3hSKiloURJcVFrIRLS1xq1gp6krXgrOGMGIqiRrSVCbVxQxxpVFpKsy4MVJgoyg35CJ7O-cO3v0edYiws6lB18leuzEAI0SIuqxRUr75R7l1o-9TOagQZQkZKpOIzyLlXQheGxi83aU_A0YwsYctTIhhQgwTeziyh32yvn7MH5udbk_Gv7CT4N0seLCdPvx3MFzfrqZX8q9nv9_ZCHKQJsImxiFAK6ME2xt33Dh_D62zUzAhuAaruyQ-ZiLOGU5BxRxkQ9T7UxHpf0HNCKvgx-cr4LfruzvyVcB78gcXjLn9</recordid><startdate>201006</startdate><enddate>201006</enddate><creator>Abbott, Rebecca A</creator><creator>Lee, Amanda J</creator><creator>Stubbs, Christina O</creator><creator>Davies, Peter SW</creator><general>Blackwell Publishing Asia</general><general>Blackwell Publishing Ltd</general><scope>BSCLL</scope><scope>CGR</scope><scope>CUY</scope><scope>CVF</scope><scope>ECM</scope><scope>EIF</scope><scope>NPM</scope><scope>AAYXX</scope><scope>CITATION</scope><scope>ASE</scope><scope>FPQ</scope><scope>K6X</scope><scope>K9.</scope><scope>NAPCQ</scope><scope>7X8</scope></search><sort><creationdate>201006</creationdate><title>Accuracy of weight status perception in contemporary Australian children and adolescents</title><author>Abbott, Rebecca A ; Lee, Amanda J ; Stubbs, Christina O ; Davies, Peter SW</author></sort><facets><frbrtype>5</frbrtype><frbrgroupid>cdi_FETCH-LOGICAL-c4969-3e2519ab9d421dc72965e6987b373f5a0b3b5f0411708ce02f5178ffa91fc48f3</frbrgroupid><rsrctype>articles</rsrctype><prefilter>articles</prefilter><language>eng</language><creationdate>2010</creationdate><topic>Adolescent</topic><topic>Anthropometry</topic><topic>Australia</topic><topic>Body Image</topic><topic>Body Mass Index</topic><topic>Body Weight - physiology</topic><topic>Child</topic><topic>Child health</topic><topic>children</topic><topic>Children &amp; youth</topic><topic>Female</topic><topic>Healthy Kids Queensland Survey</topic><topic>Humans</topic><topic>Male</topic><topic>Obesity</topic><topic>parent</topic><topic>Parents</topic><topic>Parents &amp; parenting</topic><topic>Pediatrics</topic><topic>Perception</topic><topic>Perceptions</topic><topic>Surveys</topic><topic>Surveys and Questionnaires</topic><topic>Teenagers</topic><topic>weight status</topic><toplevel>peer_reviewed</toplevel><toplevel>online_resources</toplevel><creatorcontrib>Abbott, Rebecca A</creatorcontrib><creatorcontrib>Lee, Amanda J</creatorcontrib><creatorcontrib>Stubbs, Christina O</creatorcontrib><creatorcontrib>Davies, Peter SW</creatorcontrib><collection>Istex</collection><collection>Medline</collection><collection>MEDLINE</collection><collection>MEDLINE (Ovid)</collection><collection>MEDLINE</collection><collection>MEDLINE</collection><collection>PubMed</collection><collection>CrossRef</collection><collection>British Nursing Index</collection><collection>British Nursing Index (BNI) (1985 to Present)</collection><collection>British Nursing Index</collection><collection>ProQuest Health &amp; Medical Complete (Alumni)</collection><collection>Nursing &amp; Allied Health Premium</collection><collection>MEDLINE - Academic</collection><jtitle>Journal of paediatrics and child health</jtitle></facets><delivery><delcategory>Remote Search Resource</delcategory><fulltext>fulltext</fulltext></delivery><addata><au>Abbott, Rebecca A</au><au>Lee, Amanda J</au><au>Stubbs, Christina O</au><au>Davies, Peter SW</au><format>journal</format><genre>article</genre><ristype>JOUR</ristype><atitle>Accuracy of weight status perception in contemporary Australian children and adolescents</atitle><jtitle>Journal of paediatrics and child health</jtitle><addtitle>J Paediatr Child Health</addtitle><date>2010-06</date><risdate>2010</risdate><volume>46</volume><issue>6</issue><spage>343</spage><epage>348</epage><pages>343-348</pages><issn>1034-4810</issn><eissn>1440-1754</eissn><notes>ArticleID:JPC1719</notes><notes>ark:/67375/WNG-8PFSS3R9-D</notes><notes>istex:ECBAA58ED47BFF4F675A2310460DEFFABA9BFDE3</notes><notes>Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health, v.46, no.6, June 2010: 343-348</notes><notes>ObjectType-Article-1</notes><notes>SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1</notes><notes>ObjectType-Feature-2</notes><notes>content type line 23</notes><abstract>Aim:  To explore weight status perception and its relation to actual weight status in a contemporary cohort of 5‐ to 17‐year‐old children and adolescents. Methods:  Body mass index (BMI), derived from height and weight measurements, and perception of weight status (‘too thin’, ‘about right’ and ‘too fat’) were evaluated in 3043 participants from the Healthy Kids Queensland Survey. In children less than 12 years of age, weight status perception was obtained from the parents, whereas the adolescents self‐reported their perceived weight status. Results:  Compared with measured weight status by established BMI cut‐offs, just over 20% of parents underestimated their child's weight status and only 1% overestimated. Adolescent boys were more likely to underestimate their weight status compared with girls (26.4% vs. 10.2%, P &lt; 0.05) whereas adolescent girls were more likely to overestimate than underestimate (11.8% vs. 3.4%, P &lt; 0.05). Underestimation was greater by parents of overweight children compared with those of obese children, but still less than 50% of parents identified their obese child as ‘too fat’. There was greater recognition of overweight status in the adolescents, with 83% of those who were obese reporting they were ‘too fat’. Conclusion:  Whilst there was a high degree of accuracy of weight status perception in those of healthy weight, there was considerable underestimation of weight status, particularly by parents of children who were overweight or obese. Strategies are required that enable parents to identify what a healthy weight looks like and help them understand when intervention is needed to prevent further weight gain as the child gets older.</abstract><cop>Melbourne, Australia</cop><pub>Blackwell Publishing Asia</pub><pmid>20412408</pmid><doi>10.1111/j.1440-1754.2010.01719.x</doi><tpages>6</tpages></addata></record>
fulltext fulltext
identifier ISSN: 1034-4810
ispartof Journal of paediatrics and child health, 2010-06, Vol.46 (6), p.343-348
issn 1034-4810
1440-1754
language eng
recordid cdi_istex_primary_ark_67375_WNG_8PFSS3R9_D
source Wiley
subjects Adolescent
Anthropometry
Australia
Body Image
Body Mass Index
Body Weight - physiology
Child
Child health
children
Children & youth
Female
Healthy Kids Queensland Survey
Humans
Male
Obesity
parent
Parents
Parents & parenting
Pediatrics
Perception
Perceptions
Surveys
Surveys and Questionnaires
Teenagers
weight status
title Accuracy of weight status perception in contemporary Australian children and adolescents
url http://sfxeu10.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/loughborough?ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&ctx_enc=info:ofi/enc:UTF-8&ctx_tim=2024-09-21T21%3A39%3A13IST&url_ver=Z39.88-2004&url_ctx_fmt=infofi/fmt:kev:mtx:ctx&rfr_id=info:sid/primo.exlibrisgroup.com:primo3-Article-proquest_istex&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:journal&rft.genre=article&rft.atitle=Accuracy%20of%20weight%20status%20perception%20in%20contemporary%20Australian%20children%20and%20adolescents&rft.jtitle=Journal%20of%20paediatrics%20and%20child%20health&rft.au=Abbott,%20Rebecca%20A&rft.date=2010-06&rft.volume=46&rft.issue=6&rft.spage=343&rft.epage=348&rft.pages=343-348&rft.issn=1034-4810&rft.eissn=1440-1754&rft_id=info:doi/10.1111/j.1440-1754.2010.01719.x&rft_dat=%3Cproquest_istex%3E2063017961%3C/proquest_istex%3E%3Cgrp_id%3Ecdi_FETCH-LOGICAL-c4969-3e2519ab9d421dc72965e6987b373f5a0b3b5f0411708ce02f5178ffa91fc48f3%3C/grp_id%3E%3Coa%3E%3C/oa%3E%3Curl%3E%3C/url%3E&rft_id=info:oai/&rft_pqid=504775402&rft_id=info:pmid/20412408&rft_informt_id=10.3316/ielapa.201008871&rfr_iscdi=true