ArticlePublic health nutrition2020
Accuracy of anthropometric measurements and weight status perceptions reported by parents of 4-year-old children.
Article in Public health nutrition, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
7 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 15 citations in OpenAlex.
- Accuracy of parent- and self-reported height and weight data in children: a systematic review.European journal of public health · 2026Pooled it
- Association between obesity and mental health problems among Spanish children aged 9 and 12 years: the ELOIN study.BMC public health · 2026Article
- Weight status of children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder: A cross-sectional analysis of primary care electronic medical records and linked health administrative datasets in Ontario, Canada.Pediatric obesity · 2025Article
- Association between cardiovascular risk and maternal perception of BMI in Peruvian schoolchildren.Frontiers in public health · 2024Article
- Changes in obesity and iron deficiency between 4 and 9 years of age. Longitudinal study of childhood obesity (ELOIN).International journal of obesity (2005) · 2022Article
- Anthropometric Measurements and Laboratory Investigations in Children and Youth With Type 1 Diabetes Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic.Canadian journal of diabetes · 2022Article
- Tracking and risk of abdominal and general obesity in children between 4 and 9 years of age. The Longitudinal Childhood Obesity Study (ELOIN).BMC pediatrics · 2022Article
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Authors and funding
7 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveTo assess the validity of self-reported height and weight by parents of 4-year-old children and subjective weight perception.
designDescriptive cross-sectional study.
settingPaediatric population living in the Autonomous Community of Madrid.
participantsChildren born in 2008-2009 examined at 47-59 months of age. Data were collected by paediatricians of the Madrid Primary Care Physicians Sentinel Network. Parents reported weight and height data. Prevalence of weight status categories was calculated using WHO and International Obesity Task Force (IOTF) reference criteria. Sensitivity, specificity and positive predictive value (PPV) were estimated. The appraisal of their child's weight perception and parental misperception were assessed.
resultsFor 2914 children, reported height was underestimated by -1·38 cm, weight by -0·25 kg and BMI was overestimated by +0·41 kg/m2 on average. The prevalence of obesity estimated with reported data was 2·7 times higher than that calculated with measured data (16·2 v. 6·0 %) according to WHO classification, and 3·6 times higher with IOTF classification. Sensitivity to identify obesity was 70·5 %, specificity was 87·3 % and PPV was 26·2 % (WHO classification). Half of the parents of pre-schoolers with obesity failed to identify their child's weight status. Parental misperception among children classified as having overweight or obesity reached 93·0 and 58·8 %, respectively.
conclusionsParents underestimated children's height and weight, leading to an overestimation of the prevalence of obesity. Small inaccuracies in reported measures have an important effect for the estimation of population prevalences. Parents' report of child weight status is unreliable. Parental awareness and acknowledgement of child weight status should be improved.
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