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Development and validation of a toddler silhouette scale
Erin R Hager1, Adrienne E McGill, Maureen M Black
1Division of Growth and Nutrition, Department of Pediatrics, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA. ehager@peds.umaryland.edu
Obesity (Silver Spring, Md.)
|September 19, 2009
Summary
A new toddler silhouette scale was developed and validated for assessing parental perceptions of child body size. This reliable tool helps identify and address inaccurate body size perceptions in toddlers aged 12-36 months.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Health
- Anthropometry
- Child Development
Background:
- Accurate perception of child body size is crucial for healthy development.
- Existing tools may lack specificity or cultural relevance for toddlers.
- Parental perceptions significantly influence feeding practices and child weight status.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop and validate a novel silhouette scale for assessing toddler body size.
- To evaluate the scale's content validity, reliability, and concurrent validity.
- To ensure the scale is age-appropriate, gender-neutral, and race/ethnicity-neutral.
Main Methods:
- A seven-point silhouette scale was created based on toddler photographs and phenotypic descriptions.
- Content validity, age-appropriateness, and neutrality were assessed by pediatric health professionals and parents.
- Inter-rater, intra-rater reliability, and concurrent validity were determined by matching silhouettes to toddler photographs.
Main Results:
- High interobserver agreement (kappa = 0.710, r = 0.827) was found for weight status classification.
- The scale was reported as age-appropriate for 12-36 months (89%) and neutral regarding gender (68.5%) and race/ethnicity (77.3%).
- Excellent inter-rater (0.787) and intra-rater (0.855) reliability, and significant concurrent validity (0.633) were established.
Conclusions:
- A valid and reliable toddler silhouette scale was successfully developed and evaluated.
- The scale is suitable for diverse toddlers aged 12-36 months, usable in clinical and research settings.
- This tool can aid in assessing and addressing parental perceptions of toddler body size, informing targeted interventions.
