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Updated: Sep 13, 2025
Assessment of Child Anthropometry in a Large Epidemiologic Study
Published on: February 2, 2017
Can Adults Accurately Judge Child Weight Status?
Bethany J Ridley1, Kristofor McCarty1, Robin S S Kramer2
1Department of Psychology, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 8ST, UK.
Insights
Perceptions of child weight categories in the National Child Measurement Programme (NCMP) differ from medical criteria. This study found that people underestimate higher weights and overestimate lower weights, with terminology changes having limited impact.
Area of Science:
- Child Health
- Obesity Research
- Perception Studies
Background:
- The National Child Measurement Programme (NCMP) categorizes child weight status.
- Understanding public perception of these categories is crucial for effective public health initiatives.
Purpose of the Study:
- To determine perceived boundaries of NCMP weight categories for 4-5 and 10-11 year olds.
- To assess if positive action terminology influences these perceptions.
- To validate perceived boundaries against established criteria.
Main Methods:
- Utilized photorealistic 3D child scans (n=388) in a method of adjustment task.
- Recruited participants to estimate category boundaries and exemplars.
- Tested the effect of alternative terminology on boundary perception.
Main Results:
- Confirmed validity of perceived boundaries.
- Observed a compressed response range: overestimation of lower weights and underestimation of higher weights.
- Alternative terminology shifted boundaries upward but did not eliminate the response compression.
Conclusions:
- A significant discrepancy exists between public perception of child weight categories and professional medical standards.
- Bridging this gap likely requires targeted training on recognizing medically defined categories.
Background/Objectives:
This study addresses two questions: what body sizes/shapes do participants believe correspond to the boundaries of the National Child Measurement Programme (NCMP) weight categories for children aged 4-5 and 10-11 years old, and are these judgements altered by using terminology encouraging positive action by parents?
Methods:
The study used photorealistic computer-generated stimuli based on 388 3D scans of children in a method of adjustment task. We first asked participants to estimate the boundaries between weight status categories as described by the NCMP. To test validity, we asked a second set of participants to estimate the body that represented exemplars of each weight category (the exemplars should fall between the boundary estimates). We then recruited a third set of participants to determine whether substituting positive action terminology for the weight status definitions altered the boundary positions.
Results:
First, validity was confirmed. Second, we found a compressed response range (lower weights overestimated and higher weights underestimated) for the positioning of both categorical boundaries and exemplars. Finally, the use of alternative weight status terminology resulted in an upward shift in the position of all boundaries in the BMI spectrum but failed to remove the compressive stimulus response effect.
Discussion:
There is a disconnect between the child size that people perceive to correspond to the different weight categories and the size criteria used by health professionals, and it is likely that this gap can only be bridged by training to recognise the medically based categories.
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