Introduction:

The mother’s perception regarding the nutritional status of her child is a key to the success or failure to implement preventive or therapeutic measures to manage obesity. The objective of this study was to evaluate the concordance between mothers’ perception of the nutritional status of their children and their actual nutritional status.

Materials and Methods:

This was an observational, descriptive and cross-sectional study with an analytical component. The maternal perception of the child's nutritional status was compared with the actual body mass index. The data were expressed in percentages. Concordance was determined through Cohen's Kappa coefficient (p≤0.05). To assess the factors associated with the failure of the mother to correctly perceive the nutritional status of her child, the bivariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed with the significant factors.

Results:

A total of 636 patients were evaluated, 54% were male, the average age was 10 years. 57% had an adequate weight, 9% were underweight, 22% were overweight and 11% had obesity. 59.9% of the mothers correctly classified the nutritional status of their child, kappa 0.09 (p = 0.0003). Factors that were significantly associated with the failure of the mother to correctly perceive the nutritional status of her son were: male sex (OR 1.54), age between 4 to 9 years old (OR 1.92), age between 9 to 14 years old (OR 1.23) and Body Mass Index - Z score for age and sex (OR 2.04). The multivariate analysis showed similar values ​​(p≤0.001).

Conclusion:

Approximately 60% of mothers correctly classified the nutritional status of their children. However, overweight and obese children were recognized by their mothers as such in only 31% of cases. These findings are considered to be of great importance for the success of obesity intervention programs.

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