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Parental misclassification of child overweight/obese status: The role of parental education and parental weight status

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  • Cullinan, John
  • Cawley, John

Abstract

Childhood overweight and obesity is a major public health challenge for policymakers in many countries. As the most common supervisors of children’s activities, parents have a potentially important role to play in obesity prevention. However, a precondition for parents to improve their children’s diets, encourage them to be more physically active, or take them to see a doctor about their weight is for the parent to first recognize that their child is overweight or obese. This paper examines the extent of parental misclassification of child weight status, and its correlates, focusing on the role of parental education and the parent’s own obesity status. We find evidence that, among non-obese parents, those who are better-educated report their child’s weight status more accurately, but among obese parents, the better-educated are 45.18% more likely than parents with lower secondary education to give a false negative report of their child’s overweight/obesity; this may reflect social desirability bias.

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  • Cullinan, John & Cawley, John, 2017. "Parental misclassification of child overweight/obese status: The role of parental education and parental weight status," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 24(C), pages 92-103.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ehbiol:v:24:y:2017:i:c:p:92-103
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ehb.2016.11.001
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Burkhauser, Richard V. & Cawley, John, 2008. "Beyond BMI: The value of more accurate measures of fatness and obesity in social science research," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 27(2), pages 519-529, March.
    2. Anna Choi & John Cawley, 2018. "Health disparities across education: The role of differential reporting error," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 27(3), pages 1-29, March.
    3. Cawley, John & Spiess, C. Katharina, 2008. "Obesity and skill attainment in early childhood," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 6(3), pages 388-397, December.
    4. Cawley, John & Maclean, Johanna Catherine & Hammer, Mette & Wintfeld, Neil, 2015. "Reporting error in weight and its implications for bias in economic models," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 19(C), pages 27-44.
    5. Cawley, John, 2015. "An economy of scales: A selective review of obesity's economic causes, consequences, and solutions," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 244-268.
    6. Nolan, Anne & Smith, Samantha, 2012. "The effect of differential eligibility for free GP services on GP utilisation in Ireland," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 74(10), pages 1644-1651.
    7. John Cullinan & Paddy Gillespie, 2016. "Does Overweight and Obesity Impact on Self‐Rated Health? Evidence Using Instrumental Variables Ordered Probit Models," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 25(10), pages 1341-1348, October.
    8. Joseph J. Sabia, 2007. "The Effect of Body Weight on Adolescent Academic Performance," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 73(4), pages 871-900, April.
    9. Prina, Silvia & Royer, Heather, 2014. "The importance of parental knowledge: Evidence from weight report cards in Mexico," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 232-247.
    10. Walsh, Brendan & Cullinan, John, 2015. "Decomposing socioeconomic inequalities in childhood obesity: Evidence from Ireland," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 16(C), pages 60-72.
    11. John Cawley & Chad Meyerhoefer & Adam Biener & Mette Hammer & Neil Wintfeld, 2015. "Savings in Medical Expenditures Associated with Reductions in Body Mass Index Among US Adults with Obesity, by Diabetes Status," PharmacoEconomics, Springer, vol. 33(7), pages 707-722, July.
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    Cited by:

    1. Anna Choi & John Cawley, 2018. "Health disparities across education: The role of differential reporting error," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 27(3), pages 1-29, March.
    2. Celeste Van Rinsum & Sanne Gerards & Geert Rutten & Nicole Philippens & Ester Janssen & Bjorn Winkens & Ien Van de Goor & Stef Kremers, 2018. "The Coaching on Lifestyle (CooL) Intervention for Overweight and Obesity: A Longitudinal Study into Participants’ Lifestyle Changes," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-27, April.
    3. Lene A. H. Haakstad & Trine Stensrud & Christina Gjestvang, 2021. "Does Self-Perception Equal the Truth When Judging Own Body Weight and Height?," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(16), pages 1-12, August.
    4. Christian Dustmann & Uta Schoenberg & Malte Sandner, 2022. "The effects of sun intensity during pregnancy and in the first 12 months of life on childhood obesity," RF Berlin - CReAM Discussion Paper Series 2215, Rockwool Foundation Berlin (RF Berlin) - Centre for Research and Analysis of Migration (CReAM).
    5. Edberg, Dana & Mukhopadhyay, Sankar & Wendel, Jeanne, 2019. "Incentive design to boost health for juveniles with Medicaid coverage: Evidence from a field experiment," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 101-115.

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