Volume 11 — July 31, 2014
CME ACTIVITY
Personal and Parental Weight Misperception and Self-Reported Attempted Weight Loss in US Children and Adolescents, National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 2007–2008 and 2009–2010
| Weight Category | Healthy Weight | Overweight | Obese |
|---|---|---|---|
| Child’s perception of weight status, %a | |||
| Accurate | 85.9 | 25.7 | 58.3 |
| Underestimate | 9.7 | 74.3 | 41.7 |
| Overestimate | 4.4 | 0 | 0 |
| Parent’s perception of child’s weight status, %a | |||
| Accurate | 88.3 | 21.0 | 73.5 |
| Underestimate | 9.9 | 79.0 | 26.5 |
| Overestimate | 1.8 | 0 | 0 |
a Percentages are weighted %.
Figure. Accuracy of child’s and parent’s weight perception (weighted percentages) in healthy weight, overweight, and obese children and adolescents aged 8 to 15 years in the United States, National Health and Nutrition Surveys, 2007–2010. Both children and adolescents (85.9%) and parents (88.3%) showed the highest accuracy rate when the child was in the healthy weight category. Only 25.7% of children and adolescents and 21.0% of parents accurately identified the child’s weight status when the child was overweight. When the child was obese, parental weight perception had a higher accuracy rate (73.5%) than their child’s personal weight perception (58.3%).
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