title: Maternal and child awareness and expectations of child overweight.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  We investigated mothers' and children's assessments of body weight and their expectations about perceived body size in relation to overweight of the children.
  
  
  METHODS
  We performed a case-control study of 111 cases of overweight children and 149 controls of non-overweight children (mean age 8.1 years) and their mothers. All were examined and interviewed about their assessment of body weight and their perception of a normal, attractive and acceptable body size.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Case children were less able than control children to correctly assess their own body weight (p < 0.001), as were mothers of overweight children (MOC) to assess their children's body weight (p < 0.001). The majority of mothers from both groups wished their children to have a normal body size, but 18% of MOC wished their children to have an overweight body size (p < 0.013). The majority of case children, control children and mothers found a normal body size for boys and girls to be the most attractive and socially acceptable, but more MOC found overweight among boys to be the most attractive (p = 0.006).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Overweight children and their mothers show increased uncertainty in the assessment of overweight and obesity, but the perception of a normal, attractive and socially acceptable body size is not distorted.
authors.affiliation: Department of Paediatrics, Copenhagen University Hospital Hvidovre, Hvidovre, Denmark. anne.broedsgaard@hvh.regionh.dk
authors.forename: Anne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Brødsgaard
authors.forename: Lis
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wagner
authors.forename: Birgit
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Peitersen
authors.forename: Ingrid
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Poulsen
authors.forename: Thorkild I A
authors.initials: TI
authors.lastname: Sørensen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001290:Attitude; D001835:Body Weight; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D009034:Mother-Child Relations; D009035:Mothers; D050177:Overweight / Q000523:psychology; D010465:Perception; D012016:Reference Values; D012737:Sex Factors; D012858:Size Perception; D012928:Social Desirability