In the parents’ view: weight perception accuracy, disturbed eating patterns and mental health problems among young adolescents

BACKGROUND: An accurate weight perception has been associated with motivation to change eating habits in the case of under- or overweight. However, recent studies have reported frequent misperceptions among parents and their offspring, both in the form of under- and overestimation of weight status. The aim of the present study was to investigate weight perception accuracy among parents of young adolescents in relation to reports on disturbed eating patterns and mental health problems. METHODS: Weight perception accuracy was assessed among parents of young adolescents (N = 5,781, aged 11 - 13 years) who participated in the ongoing Bergen Child Study (BCS). Parental weight perception was classified in overestimation, underestimation and accurate. Other measures included demographic variables, the parents’ evaluations of disturbed eating patterns and mental health problems among their offspring as well as the adolescents’ own weight perception accuracy. RESULTS: The parents accurately perceived more than 80% of normal weight adolescents, but nearly 60% of the underweight adolescents were overestimated, and a substantial proportion of overweight girls (34. 8%) and boys (12.8%) were underestimated. In general, parents who were aware of deviations from average weight in their child also reported higher levels of disturbed eating patterns, emotional problems, and behavioral problems. After controlling for demographic factors, the risk of parental over- and underestimation was significantly predicted by weight status, the adolescents’ weight perception accuracy as well as disturbed eating patterns reported by the parents (p < .05). CONCLUSIONS: Adolescents with under- or overweight proved most likely to be misperceived by their parents in this study. The pattern of perceptually correcting deviations from normal weight was interpreted as a positivity bias among the parents. These results suggest that weight perception accuracy should be targeted in family-focused interventions in order to strengthen adequate weight control among young adolescents.