Parents' perception of their child's weight status and intention to intervene: a Western Australian cross-sectional population survey, 2009-12.

Objective: To report on parents' perceptions of their child's weight status and how the child's body mass index (BMI) is associated with parent intentions to change or maintain the child's weight.

Methods: Estimates were derived via data collected from 4,437 parents from 2009 to 2012 as part of the Western Australian Health and Wellbeing Surveillance System. To measure weight perceptions, parents were asked, "Is your child underweight, normal weight, overweight or very overweight?" BMI values were also derived via parent-reported height and weight.