Parents’ Perception of Child Weight Status, Risk Factors and Health Concern of Childhood Obesity: A Systematic Review

The increased prevalence of childhood obesity is becoming a public health concern as it is related to numerous health implications. Parental  perception  of child’s  weight  status  is an important  factor  for  reducing  childhood  obesity  burden.  Parental  perception  of the  risk factors and health outcomes of obesity are important in prevention and management  of childhood obesity. However, previous reviews focused mainly on parental perceptions  about healthy behaviors  to reduce the burden of childhood  obesity. Thus, this systematic  review was carried out to investigate parental perceptions of their child weight status as well as risk factors and health concern of childhood obesity. A systematic review  was  conducted  and  was  reported  in accordance  with  PRISMA  statement  on studies  between  2012  and  2017  through  a variety  of database like CINAHL, PubMed, Science Direct, Scopus and Cochrane Library.  However, out of 2,334 articles identified, only 35 studies were included, which originate  mostly from high-income  countries.  The results revealed  that parents’ misperception  rate of their children’s  weight varies  from  9.6%  to  90%,  while  parents  perceptive      that  only  genetic  factors,  non-vegetable-consumption  or  low  physical  activity  and environmental  factors are the key risk factors of childhood  obesity. Hence, parents’ of obese children estimate their children to be at risk at having hypertension,  heart disease, depression,  and diabetes. In conclusion,  parents have difficulty in correctly perceiving  the obesity status of their  children.  Health  care  workers  should  be aware  of the parents’  wrong  perception  of their  children’s  weight  status.  The result  of this review  may be used to develop  an effective  intervention  programs  aimed  at reducing  the burden  of childhood  obesity  which  focus  on the parental perception of the risk factors contributing to childhood obesity.