You are here

Article Text

Article menu
Download PDFPDF
Child health
Systematic review and meta-analysis
Half of parents underestimate the weight of their overweight or obese children
  1. Min Hae Park
  1. Department of Non-communicable Disease Epidemiology, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, UK
  1. Correspondence to : Dr Min Hae Park, Department of Non-communicable Disease Epidemiology, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, Keppel Street, London WC1E 7HT, UK; minhae.park{at}lshtm.ac.uk

https://doi.org/10.1136/eb-2014-101876

Statistics from Altmetric.com

    Request Permissions

    If you wish to reuse any or all of this article please use the link below which will take you to the Copyright Clearance Center’s RightsLink service. You will be able to get a quick price and instant permission to reuse the content in many different ways.

    Commentary on: Lundahl A, Kidwell KM, Nelson TD. Parental underestimates of child weight: a meta-analysis. Pediatrics 2014;133:e689–703.OpenUrlAbstract/FREE Full Text

    Implications for practice and research

    • Parental underestimation of child weight is widespread and is a barrier to engagement with obesity interventions.

    • Correcting parental perceptions may be of limited benefit if perceptions are not accompanied by changes in perceived health risk and lifestyle.

    • Research is needed to identify effective interventions for encouraging healthy lifestyle behaviours among families, regardless of their child's weight status.

    Context

    It is estimated that one in four children and adolescents in developed countries is overweight or obese.1 Childhood obesity is associated with several adverse health outcomes in childhood and later life. Parental involvement is considered a vital component of effective interventions for …

    View Full Text

    Footnotes

    • Competing interests None.