Parental Perceptions of Their Child's Overweight: An Integrative Review of the Literature

Towns, Nichole; D’Auria, Jennifer P.

doi:10.1016/j.pedn.2008.02.032

Cited by 153 publications

(158 citation statements)

References 41 publications

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“…It has been suggested that the general population is poor at recognizing overweight (Johnson, Cooke, Croker, & Wardle, 2008). This means parents may be less likely to see weight management as personally relevant (Towns & D'auria, 2009). HCPs themselves may also be poor at visually recognizing a child's overweight (Robinson, 2017; Smith, Gately, & Rudolf, 2008), so unless they employ objective tools the opportunity for weight‐related discussions may be missed.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Barriers and facilitators to health care professionals discussing child weight with parents: A meta‐synthesis of qualitative studies

Bradbury

Chisholm

Watson

et al. 2018

British J Health Psychol

135

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IntroductionChildhood obesity is one of the most serious global public health challenges. However, obesity and its consequences are largely preventable. As parents play an important role in their children's weight‐related behaviours, good communication between parents and health care professionals (HCPs) is essential. This systematic review provides a meta‐synthesis of qualitative studies exploring the barriers and facilitators experienced by HCPs when discussing child weight with parents.MethodsSearches were conducted using the following databases: MEDLINE (OVID), Psych INFO (OVID), EMBASE (OVID), Web of Knowledge and CINAHL. Thirteen full‐text qualitative studies published in English language journals since 1985 were included. Included studies collected data from HCPs (e.g., nurses, doctors, dieticians, psychologists, and clinical managers) concerning their experiences of discussing child weight‐related issues with parents. An inductive thematic analysis was employed to synthesize findings.FindingsEmerging subthemes were categorized using a socio‐ecological framework into intra/interpersonal factors, organizational factors, and societal factors. Perceived barriers and facilitators most commonly related to intra/interpersonal level factors, that is, relating to staff factors, parental factors, or professional–parent interactions. HCPs also attributed a number of barriers, but not facilitators, at the organizational and societal levels.ConclusionThe findings of this review may help to inform the development of future weight‐related communication interventions. Whilst intra/interpersonal interventions may go some way to improving health care practice, it is crucial that all stakeholders consider the wider organizational and societal context in which these interactions take place. Statement of contribution What is already known on the subject? Childhood obesity is one of the United Kingdom's most serious current public health challenges.Health care professionals are in a prime position to identify child weight issues during routine consultations.However, they often feel unable or unequipped to raise the topic and provide information on child weight management. What does this study add? To our knowledge, this is the first review to synthesize barriers and facilitators to discussing child weight.This review interprets key barriers and facilitators in the context of the socio‐ecological model.Supports the development of interventions matched to the appropriate level of the socio‐economic model.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Barriers and facilitators to health care professionals discussing child weight with parents: A meta‐synthesis of qualitative studies

Bradbury

Chisholm

Watson

et al. 2018

British J Health Psychol

135

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…However, the absence of significance of such differences might be due to the limited number of observations, as only 174 out of the total 842 dyads were available to answer this research question. Though often assumed, it was rarely investigated whether misperception of children's weight status actually had an impact on relevant weight related behaviors and attitudes, with most research focusing on socio-demographic differences (Francescatto, Santos, Coutinho, & Costa, 2014;Rietmeijer-Mentink, Paulis, van Middelkoop, Bindels, & van der Wouden, 2013;Tompkins, Seablom, & Brock, 2014;Towns & D'Auria, 2009). In accordance with our results, a previous study, which examined social cognitive differences between parents who correctly and incorrectly classified their children's overweight, found comparable attitudes towards risk and knowledge with respect to healthy eating in both groups (Etelson et al, 2003).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This misperception might hinder parents to take appropriate measures to ameliorate weight status and to prevent potential health problems associated with overweight. Perception of overweight was most often studied in relation to socio-demographic factors, showing that younger age, gender and various ethnic backgrounds were associated with underestimation of overweight (De La O et al, 2009;Eckstein et al, 2006;Towns & D'Auria, 2009). Little is known about whether or not there are any differences with respect to food and health-related beliefs between parents who perceive their children's weight status correctly or those who underestimate it.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Is Adolescent Body Weight Associated With Parental Beliefs About Overweight, Attitudes Towards Food, and the Home Environment?

Krömker¹,

Stolberg²,

Müller³

et al. 2015

JFR

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Parents play a crucial role in the development of childhood overweight and also in controling overweight. This study investigated a broad set of parental factors, including general attitudes towards food (price, identity, cooking, ecology, mood, dieting, convenience, functionality), social cognitions concerning overweight (risk perception, self-efficacy for exercising and healthy eating, response efficacy for exercising and healthy eating) and characteristics of the home environment (restriction of snacks, regular family meals, parents involved in sports) and their association with their children's zBMI, i.e. adolescents between 12-19 years old. In a non-clinical sample of 842 parent-adolescent dyads we found that the zBMI is most strongly and positively associated with parental dieting attitudes and negatively with parents' self-efficacy to motivate their children to exercise. The zBMI is negatively and weakly associated with dislike of cooking, identification with the way of eating and the perceived benefit of healthy eating (response efficacy). Half of the parents assessed their children's overweight and obesity correctly, while the other half underestimated it. No difference was found with respect to all investigated variables (general attitudes, social cognitions concerning overweight and home environment) between parents who correctly perceive and those who misperceive their children's weight status.

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“…Firstly, the size of a child matters. Failure to identify child adiposity is more common if a child is overweight rather than obese 33, 34, 35, but still, a substantial proportion of parents of obese children incorrectly perceive their obese child's weight as being ‘about right’ 32, 35, 36, 37. Secondly, although parental underestimation of child weight status appears to be particularly pronounced for younger children (e.g.…”

Section: Parental Underestimation Of Child Overweight and Obesitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Overweight but unseen: a review of the underestimation of weight status and a visual normalization theory

2017

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SummaryAlthough overweight and obesity are widespread across most of the developed world, a considerable body of research has now accumulated, which suggests that adiposity often goes undetected. A substantial proportion of individuals with overweight or obesity do not identify they are overweight, and large numbers of parents of children with overweight or obesity fail to identify their child as being overweight. Lay people and medical practitioners are also now poor at identifying overweight and obesity in others. A visual normalization theory of the under‐detection of overweight and obesity is proposed. This theory is based on the notion that weight status is judged relative to visual body size norms. Because larger body sizes are now common, this has caused a recalibration to the range of body sizes that are perceived as being ‘normal’ and increased the visual threshold for what constitutes ‘overweight’. Evidence is reviewed that indicates this process has played a significant role in the under‐detection of overweight and obesity. The public health relevance of the under‐detection of overweight and obesity is also discussed.

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Parental Perceptions of Their Child's Overweight: An Integrative Review of the Literature

Cited by 153 publications

References 41 publications

Barriers and facilitators to health care professionals discussing child weight with parents: A meta‐synthesis of qualitative studies

Barriers and facilitators to health care professionals discussing child weight with parents: A meta‐synthesis of qualitative studies

Is Adolescent Body Weight Associated With Parental Beliefs About Overweight, Attitudes Towards Food, and the Home Environment?

Overweight but unseen: a review of the underestimation of weight status and a visual normalization theory

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