title: Parental misperceptions of children's underweight status: a meta-analysis.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Accurate parental perceptions of their children's underweight status are needed to prevent overlooking potential disordered eating patterns or health conditions affecting growth.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study is to determine overall proportion of parents who misperceive children's underweight status and correlates of such misperceptions.
  
  
  METHODS
  Original studies published to January 2013 were chosen through a literature search in established databases. Studies included assessed parental perceptions of their children's underweight and then compared perceptions to recognized standards for defining underweight based on anthropometric measures. Random- and mixed-effects models were used.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Thirty-seven articles (representing 39 studies; N = 4,039) were included. Pooled effect sizes indicated that 46.58 % (95 % CI 40.90-52.35 %) of parents misperceive their children's underweight status, though the extent of misperceptions depended on a number of moderators.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Nearly half of parents perceive their underweight children as weighing more than they actually do. Health care professionals are well positioned to take steps to remedy misperceptions and encourage healthy behaviors.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 238 Burnett Hall, Lincoln, NE, 68588, USA, alyssalundahl@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Alyssa
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lundahl
authors.forename: Katherine M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Kidwell
authors.forename: Timothy D
authors.initials: TD
authors.lastname: Nelson
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology*; D013851:Thinness / Q000523:psychology*