title: Actual and perceived weight status and its association with slimming and energy-balance related behaviours in 10- to 12-year-old European children: the ENERGY-project.
abstract: Both parents' and children's perception of children's weight status may be important predictors of slimming and energy-balance related behaviours, independent of children's actual weight status.
  
  
  
  We examined the cross-sectional association of children's self-reported slimming and energy-balance related behaviours with children's (i) actual, (ii) self-perceived and (iii) parent-perceived weight status.
  
  
  
  Data of 10- to 12-year-old European children and their parents were used. Multilevel logistic and linear regression analyses were performed, adjusting for age, gender, parental weight controlling behaviours, education, marital status and ethnicity.
  
  
  
  Independent of their actual weight status, a higher proportion of children reported slimming when they or their parents perceived them as too fat. Children's self-perceived weight status was more strongly associated with slimming than their parents' perception or their actual weight status. Moreover, children who perceive themselves as overweight reported less physical activity and more screen time. Children whose parents perceive them as overweight reported less physical activity.
  
  
  
  Children's own perception of their weight status appears to be more important for their self-reported slimming than their actual or their parent's perceptions of their weight status. Additionally, children's self-perceived weight status seems important in engaging more physical activity and reduces screen time.
authors.affiliation: EMGO Institute for Health and Care Research, Department of Public and Occupational Health, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: T M
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Altenburg
authors.affiliation: EMGO Institute for Health and Care Research, Department of Public and Occupational Health, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: A S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Singh
authors.affiliation: EMGO Institut1e for Health and Care Research, Department of Epidemiology & Biostatistics, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Te Velde
authors.affiliation: Department of Movement and Sport Sciences, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: De Bourdeaudhuij
authors.affiliation: Department of Nutrition, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Lien
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, Sport and Nutrition, University of Agder, Kristiansand, Norway.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Bere
authors.affiliation: Department of Paediatrics, University of Pécs, Pécs, Hungary.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Molnár
authors.affiliation: Slovenian Heart Foundation, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Jan
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Health Sciences, Department of Physical Medicine and Nursing, University of Zaragoza, Zaragoza, Spain.
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Fernández-Alvira
authors.affiliation: School of Health Science and Education, Department of Nutrition-Dietetics, Harokopio University Athens, Athens, Greece.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Manios
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Swiss TPH, Basel, Switzerland.|University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Bringolf-Isler
authors.affiliation: EMGO Institut1e for Health and Care Research, Department of Epidemiology & Biostatistics, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Brug
authors.affiliation: EMGO Institute for Health and Care Research, Department of Public and Occupational Health, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Chinapaw
mesh_terms: D001835:Body Weight / Q000502:physiology*; D002648:Child; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004734:Energy Metabolism; D015444:Exercise / Q000523:psychology*; D005247:Feeding Behavior / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D050177:Overweight / Q000523:psychology*; D010290:Parents; D012649:Self Concept; D057566:Self Report; D015431:Weight Loss; D044465:White People
keywords: BMI; adolescents; adults; breakfast frequency; dieting; perceptions; physical activity; sedentary behaviour; sugar-sweetened beverages