Parent’s perception of their child’s weight.
Parents answered
a socio-demographic questionnaire including a question on their
perception of their child’s body size (if their child is 1 – markedly
underweight, 2 – underweight, 3 – average, 4 – overweight, and
5 – markedly overweight) drawn from the Child Feeding Questionnaire
(Birch, Johnson, Grimm-Thomas, & Fisher, 2004). We
measured the accuracy of the parents’ perception of their child’s
weight by comparing the child’s current weight category (normal
weight or overweight) with the parents’ reported perception
of their child’s body size. No parents reported their child to be
markedly underweight or markedly overweight. Accuracy was
defined as a significant departure from the weight category, that
is, parents were classified in the accurate category if they correctly
perceived their child as either normal weight or overweight according
to the child’s weight status. Conversely, parents were classified
in the inaccurate category if they overestimated or underestimated
their child’s weight,thatis, reporting an overweight child as normal
or underweight, or a normal weight child as under or overweight.