Parents answereda 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.