Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jul 29, 2025

Assessment of Child Anthropometry in a Large Epidemiologic Study
09:36

Assessment of Child Anthropometry in a Large Epidemiologic Study

Published on: February 2, 2017

27.2K

Do Childcare Teachers Evaluate Children's Weight Status More Accurately Than Parents? A Brief Report

Ana I Gomes1, Rosa Lemos2, Milica Miočević3

  • 1CICPSI, Faculdade de Psicologia, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal.

American Journal of Health Promotion : AJHP
|May 21, 2023
PubMed

Insights

Childcare teachers more accurately identified overweight children than parents, but both groups frequently misclassified children's weight status. Accurate weight perception is crucial for addressing childhood obesity.

Area of Science:

  • Child Health
  • Public Health
  • Pediatrics

Background:

  • Parental underestimation of a child's weight can impede efforts to modify diet and physical activity.
  • Childcare teachers play a role in identifying at-risk children, but their accuracy in assessing weight status is critical.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To compare the accuracy of weight perception between parents and childcare teachers.
  • To identify predictors of accurate weight perception in caregivers and teachers.

Main Methods:

  • A quantitative, cross-sectional study was conducted in 15 kindergartens near Lisbon, Portugal.
  • 319 parents, 32 teachers, and 319 children participated.
  • Caregivers classified children's weight status (underweight, healthy, overweight), and children's body mass index (BMI) percentile was assessed.

Main Results:

  • Teachers correctly assessed 31.1% of overweight children, compared to 17.5% of parents (P = 0.004).
  • The child's BMI percentile was a significant predictor of accurate weight perception for both parents and teachers.
  • Despite higher accuracy, teachers still misclassified a substantial proportion of overweight children.

Conclusions:

  • Childcare teachers demonstrated better accuracy than parents in identifying children's weight status.
  • However, the high rate of misclassification by teachers highlights a need for improved training and tools to support accurate weight assessment in early childhood settings.
Abstract

Keywords:
childcare teacherschildrenkindergartenparentsperception of the child’s weight

More Related Videos

Physical Activity Measurement in Children Accepting Table Tennis Training06:51

Physical Activity Measurement in Children Accepting Table Tennis Training

Published on: July 27, 2022

2.0K
Determining Soil-transmitted Helminth Infection Status and Physical Fitness of School-aged Children10:57

Determining Soil-transmitted Helminth Infection Status and Physical Fitness of School-aged Children

Published on: August 22, 2012

23.6K

Related Concept Videos

Nursing Evaluation01:15

Nursing Evaluation

The evaluation stage signals the end of the nursing process. The nurse gathers evaluative data to assess whether or not the patient has attained the expected results. Whereas the nurse collects data in the nursing assessment to identify the patient's health concerns, the evaluation stage data determines if the indicated health issues are resolved. Evaluative data collection includes two sections: the data acquired to evaluate patient outcomes and the time criteria for data collection.
3.4K
Nursing Process for Patient and Caregiver Teaching III: Evaluation and Documentation01:20

Nursing Process for Patient and Caregiver Teaching III: Evaluation and Documentation

Evaluation of the teaching process enables the nurse to determine if the patient's learning needs were met and if training was effective. If the expected outcomes are not met, the care plan is revised, and additional education or reinforcement is provided. Nurses can ask questions after the session or obtain feedback to assess the patient's understanding of the topic.
Nurses can use several methods to evaluate patient outcomes. For example, oral questions can assess cognitive learning,...
1.8K
Parenting Styles01:27

Parenting Styles

Diana Baumrind's four parenting styles — authoritarian, authoritative, neglectful, and permissive — each influence children's socio-emotional development differently.
Authoritarian Parenting
This style is strict and controlling, with little room for open dialogue. Authoritarian parents demand obedience and often enforce rules with minimal warmth. Children raised this way may lack social skills and initiative, usually comparing themselves to others unfavorably.
Authoritative...
98
Parental Care00:55

Parental Care

Many animals exhibit parental care behavior, including feeding, grooming, and protecting young offspring. Parental care is universal in mammals and birds, which often have young that are born relatively helpless. Several species of insects and fish, as well as some amphibians, also care for their young.
11.8K
Naturalistic Observations02:30

Naturalistic Observations

If you want to understand how behavior occurs, one of the best ways to gain information is to simply observe the behavior in its natural context. However, people might change their behavior in unexpected ways if they know they are being observed. How do researchers obtain accurate information when people tend to hide their natural behavior? As an example, imagine that your professor asks everyone in your class to raise their hand if they always wash their hands after using the restroom. Chances...
15.6K
Regression Toward the Mean01:52

Regression Toward the Mean

Regression toward the mean (“RTM”) is a phenomenon in which extremely high or low values—for example, and individual’s blood pressure at a particular moment—appear closer to a group’s average upon remeasuring. Although this statistical peculiarity is the result of random error and chance, it has been problematic across various medical, scientific, financial and psychological applications. In particular, RTM, if not taken into account, can interfere when...
6.3K