JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

eHealth interventions for children often rely on parent-reported child anthropometric measures. However, limited studies have assessed parental accuracy in reporting child height and weight via web-based approaches.

Objective:

The study aimed to determine the accuracy of parent-reported child height, weight, calculated Body Mass Index (BMI) and weight status category. The study also aimed to explore whether parent report was influenced by age, sex, weight status category, or exposure to participation in a 12-week brief web-based family lifestyle intervention.

Methods:

The analysis used data from a 12-week pilot randomized controlled trial in parents with children aged 4-11 years in Australia. Parents were asked to report demographic information including child height and weight using an online survey before their child’s height and weight were objectively measured by a trained research assistant at baseline and week 12. Data were analyzed using Lin’s concordance correlation coefficient (ρc; ranges from 0 (poor) to ±1 (perfect) concordance), Cohen’s kappa coefficient, and multiple logistic regression models.

Results:

There were 42 families at baseline and 35 families (83%) at week 12. Overall, the accuracy of parent-reported child height was considered ‘moderate’ (ρc=0.94), accuracy of weight was considered ‘substantial’ (ρc=0.96), and accuracy of calculated BMI was ‘poor’ (ρc=0.63). Parents under-reported child height and weight by 0.9cm and 0.5kg at baseline and by 0.2cm and 1.6kg after participating in a 12-week brief web-based family lifestyle intervention. The overall inter-rater agreement of child weight category was moderate at baseline (k=0.59) and week 12 (k=0.54). Overall, 74% (n=31) and 70% (n=23) of parent-reported child height and weight correctly estimated the child weight category at baseline and week 12, respectively. Parental age was significantly (P=.03) associated with accuracy of reporting child height. No variables were associated with reporting of child weight. Parents were less likely to overestimated child BMI for boys compared to girls (OR=0.1; P=.03).

Conclusions:

The majority of Australian parents in the current study were reasonably accurate in reporting child height and weight among a group of children aged four to 12 years, and correctly estimated the weight status of their children at both time-points. Online parent-reported child height and weight may be a valid method of collecting child anthropometric data ahead of participation in a web-based program. Future studies with larger sample sizes and repeated measures over time in the context of web-based and eHealth research are warranted.