Table 2.

Parental perceptions of their child’s weight status and their concern for the national rise in number of overweight children according to their child’s objectively measured weight status.

	Child weight status (n = 536)1
Parents’ perception of their child’s weight status	Underweight  n (%)	Healthy weight  n (%)	Overweight and Obese  n (%)	Total  n (%)
Very underweight or Underweight
Overall	2 (40.0)	40 (9.9)	0 (0.0)	42 (7.8)
Boys	1 (50.0)	27 (12.9)	0 (0.0)	28 (10.3)
Girls	1 (33.3)	13 (6.7)	0 (0.0)	14 (5.3)
Normal
Overall	3 (60.0)	364 (90.1)	88 (69.3)	455 (84.9)
Boys	1 (50.0)	183 (87.1)	38 (64.4)	222 (81.9)
Girls	2 (66.7)	181 (93.3)	50 (73.5)	233 (87.9)
Overweight or Very overweight
Overall	0 (0.0)	0 (0.0)	39 (30.7)	39 (7.3)
Boys	0 (0.0)	0 (0.0)	21 (35.6)	21 (7.7)
Girls	0 (0.0)	0 (0.0)	18 (26.5)	18 (6.8)
Total n (%)
Overall	5 (100.0)	404 (100.0)	127 (100.0)	536 (100.0)
Boys	2 (100.0)	210 (100.0)	59 (100.0)	271 (100.0)
Girls	3 (100.0)	194 (100.0)	68 (100.0)	265 (100.0)
Concern for the national rise in number of overweight children
Yes
Overall	4 (80.0)	288 (71.3)	102 (80.3)	394 (73.5)
Boys	2 (100.0)	150 (71.4)	53 (89.8)	205 (75.6)
Girls	2 (66.7)	138 (71.1)	49 (72.1)	189 (71.3)
No
Overall	0 (0.0)	34 (8.4)	5 (3.9)	39 (7.3)
Boys	0 (0.0)	21 (10.0)	2 (3.4)	23 (8.5)
Girls	0 (0.0)	13 (6.7)	3 (4.4)	16 (6.0)
Not sure
Overall	1 (20.0)	82 (20.3)	20 (15.7)	103 (19.2)
Boys	0 (0.0)	39 (18.6)	4 (6.8)	43 (15.9)
Girls	1 (33.3)	43 (22.2)	16 (23.5)	60 (22.6)
Total n (%)
Overall	5 (100.0)	404 (100.0)	127 (100.0)	536 (100.0)
Boys	2 (100.0)	210 (100.0)	59 (100.0)	271 (100.0)
Girls	3 (100.0)	194 (100.0)	68 (100.0)	265 (100.0)

¹Overweight and obesity were determined using international cut-off points, defined to pass through BMI of 25 and 30 kg/m² respectively at age 18¹³;Underweight was determined using international cut-off points, defined to pass through BMI of 17 kg/m² at age 18¹⁴