Parents’ perceptions of children's weight: the accuracy of ratings and associations to strategies for feeding

The general objective of this study was to assess parents’ perceptions of their preschooler's body weight, and the association between children's current weight status and parental feeding strategies. A sample of 150 parents of three- to five-year-old children (72 girls and 78 boys) completed questionnaires on sociodemographic information, body-size perception of their child, and feeding practices information. Children were classified into weight categories according to body mass index scores. Results showed that: (1) parents of children who were overweight were less accurate in determining their child's body size, (2) parents who did perceive their child's body size accurately reported being more concerned with their child's eating habits and weight when this child was actually overweight, (3) parents who were accurate in perceiving their child's weight reported using more food restriction than parents who were inaccurate, and (4) parents of girls reported significantly more monitoring of sweets and snack food consumption than parents of boys. Prevention programmes should be implemented in early childhood and include parent education components.