Accuracy of self-reports of food intake in obese and normal-weight individuals: Effects of parental obesity on reports of children's dietary intake

Abstract

The purpose of this investigation was to determine the accuracy of dietary-intake information of normal-weight vs overweight parents in their reports of their children's food intake. Subjects were 36 families with either normal-weight (n = 20) or overweight (n = 16) children aged 4-9 y. Unobtrusive observers recorded the types and amounts of food eaten by the children at one meal. The next day families were visited in their homes and were asked to provide dietary-intake information from the previous day on their child. Results indicated that parental reports of the dietary intake of their children correlated significantly with the observers' measures of food intake. Neither the father's, the mother's, nor the family's obesity status had an effect on the accuracy of recalled information. The results indicated that the lack of differences consistently observed in dietary intake between obese and normal-weight children could not be explained by differential accuracy of recalled dietary information.