Original article
Arch Argent Pediatr 2016;114(3):237-242 / 237
Altered perception of the nutritional status of preschoolers by their parents: A risk factor for overweight and obesity Karla L. Chávez Caraza, M.D.a, Julieta Rodríguez de Ita, M.D.a, Jesús Santos Guzmán, M.D.a, Javán G. Segovia Aguirre, M.D.a, Diana C. Altamirano Montealvo, Studenta and Víctor M. Matías Barrios, Studenta
a. Medicine School of Tecnológico de Monterrey, Monterrey Campus. Pediatric Residency Program of the Multicenter System of Medical Residency Program, ITESM-SSNL, Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico. E-mail address: Jesús Santos Guzmán, M.D.,
[email protected] Funding: None. Conflict of interest: None. Received: 08-17-2015 Accepted: 01-07-2016
ABSTRACT Introduction. Many parents have a misperception of their children’s body size; in general, they underestimate overweight and obesity. Objective. To identify the difference between parents’ perception of their children’s nutritional status and measured body mass index. Population and methods. An analytical, descriptive and cross-sectional study was conducted among parents of children aged 2 to 6 years old. Children’s body mass index was measured, and parents’ perception was assessed using a visual scale of body size pictograms (drawings of body figures equivalent to body mass index percentiles). Results. A total of 605 children and their parents were assessed. Seventy-four (12.2%) were overweight and 87 were obese (14.3%). There were 161 overweight or obese children, but 98.8% (159) of parents underestimated their children’s nutritional status. Parents’ underperception of their children’s body size accounted for an OR= 2.1 ± 0.5, p = 0.002 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.32-3.32) for obesity and an OR = 4.42 ± 1.2, p 85 th percentile), corresponded to 18.5% of boys and 10.9% of girls. Among overweight children (BMI ≥85 th and
