To assess parental perception of weight status in 4-7 year children
Research type
Research Study
Full title
A study to assess the parental perception of weight status in 4-7 years old children.
IRAS ID
191330
Contact name
Susan Liebeschuetz
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Barts health trust
Duration of Study in the UK
7 years, 4 months, 17 days
Research summary
Childhood obesity is a growing problem worldwide.According to the National Child Measurement Programme in UK, one in 5 children in reception (aged 4-5 y) is overweight or obese. As clinicians working in a very diverse , deprived borough of London we often come across families who are very concerned that their children are underweight and do not eat enough, when objectively their weight and body mass index are well within normal parameters. According to the 2013 profile produced by the Child and Maternal Health Observatory (ChiMat), Newham has worse than average levels of childhood obesity with 13% of children aged 4-5 years and 25.7% of children aged 10-11 years were classified as in risk of obesity. According to the literature, one third to half of the parents are unable to recognise when their own child is overweight. Our hypothesis is that while this misclassification about child's weight status affects all ethnic groups , it is particularly common in families with a South Asian background. We think that many South Asian parents, expecially among the deprived groups, do not adhere to the western child weight ideal and that their "ideal child good weight" is heavvier than the general ideal, therefore they are unable to recognise when their children are overweight or obese.
REC name
South Central - Berkshire Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
16/SC/0398
Date of REC Opinion
18 Aug 2016
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion