Department of Dental Techniques and Masticatory System Dysfunctions, Medical University of Gdańsk, Tuwima Street 15 Office 17A, 80-210 Gdansk, Poland.
Department of Preventive Medicine and Education, Medical University of Gdańsk, Dębinki Street 7, 80-952 Gdansk, Poland.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022 Apr 7;19(8):4433. doi: 10.3390/ijerph19084433.
One way to counteract the spread of obesity in children is its early recognition by parents. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate whether parents' perception of their children's BMI category was consistent with their actual BMI assessment and to determine potential influential factors. The study was conducted as part of the "A program for the early detection of risk factors for lifestyle diseases SOPKARD-Junior" (SOPKARD-Junior), a preventive health program implemented in public elementary schools from 2017 to 2019. The results from 381 children with a mean age of 11.67 ( = 1.52) were analyzed. Height and weight were measured and BMI was calculated. Surveys were conducted to assess parents' perceptions of their child's weight, along with their sociodemographic status. Nearly one in three parents were unable to correctly identify their children's weight; 25.0% underestimated it, and 6.0% overestimated it. Underestimation was observed along with an increase in the children's BMI weight category, with as many as 57.1% of parents of obese children misclassifying their weight. The child's BMI was the only significant predictor of incorrect assessment. Polish parents cannot properly assess their children's BMI, especially when their child is overweight or obese. In children, weight and height measurements should be taken regularly, rather than allowing weight category to be dependent upon parental weight assessments.
预防儿童肥胖的一种方法是父母及早识别。因此，本研究旨在调查父母对子女 BMI 类别分类的感知是否与其实际 BMI 评估相符，并确定潜在的影响因素。该研究是在“早期发现生活方式疾病风险因素计划 SOPKARD-Junior（SOPKARD-Junior）”（2017-2019 年在公立小学实施的预防保健计划）的一部分。对 381 名平均年龄为 11.67（=1.52）的儿童的结果进行了分析。测量了身高和体重，并计算了 BMI。进行了调查，以评估父母对孩子体重的看法，以及他们的社会人口统计学状况。近三分之一的父母无法正确识别孩子的体重；25.0%的父母低估了体重，6.0%的父母高估了体重。随着儿童 BMI 体重类别增加，观察到低估现象，多达 57.1%的肥胖儿童的父母错误地判断了体重。儿童的 BMI 是不正确评估的唯一显著预测因素。波兰父母不能正确评估子女的 BMI，尤其是当子女超重或肥胖时。在儿童中，应定期测量体重和身高，而不是让体重类别依赖于父母的体重评估。
