The Impact of Parents’ Categorization of Their Own Weight and Their Child’s Weight on Healthy Lifestyle Promoting Beliefs and Practices
Table 1
Characteristics of parents stratified by perceived child’s weight status () and by parents’ self-reported weight status only among parents who perceived their child as overweight.
Characteristic
All parents ()
Parents of overweight1 child ()
Child normal weight1
Child overweight1
Normal weight1 parent
Overweight1 parent
Parent/household
Sex of parent
Female
72.3%
76.4%
72.0%
78.9%
Male
27.7%
23.6%
28.0%
21.1%
Race/ethnicity
Non-Hispanic white
67.7%
57.2%**
62.6%
54.3%
Non-Hispanic black
23.6%
31.2%
26.0%
34.1%
Hispanic
4.3%
6.1%
5.7%
6.3%
Other
4.4%
5.5%
5.7%
5.4%
Household income1
<$50,000
38.8%
50.6%***
44.5%
54.0%
≥$50,000
61.2%
49.4%
55.5%
46.0%
Education
Some college or less
48.2%
53.5%
55.2%
52.5%
College graduate
51.8%
46.5%
44.8%
47.5%
Household location
Metro
43.7%
47.7%
46.4%
48.4%*
Other urban
33.8%
31.0%
25.6%
34.1%
Other
22.5%
21.3%
28.0%
17.5%
Child
Weight status (per BMI)
Normal weight
72.8%
16.4%***
16.8%
16.1%
Obese
27.2%
83.6%
83.2%
83.9%
Sex of child
Female
48.1%
49.1%
40.0%
54.3%*
Male
51.9%
50.9%
60.0%
45.7%
Age of child
≤11 years
59.5%
50.0%**
55.2%
47.1%
>11 years
40.5%
50.0%
44.8%
52.9%
; ; . Two-sided level of significance in relation to their normal weight comparator was tested using Chi-square tests of independence or Fisher’s exact tests.
1Weight status of parents and children is that as perceived by the parents.