Parental weight-control behaviors and their association with children’s dieting practices: a cross-sectional analysis

Background: Weight control diets, which have become a common nutritional practice in both childhood and adulthood, highlight the need for further understanding of parent-child interactions in this context. This study aims to explore the association between parents’ weight control dieting (WCD) status and their children’s WCD status, as well as to evaluate the accuracy of parents’ perception of their child’s weight as overweight. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted with parents of children aged 6–13 years (n = 888) attending primary and secondary schools. The survey collected data on children’s WCD status, daily eating habits, parents’ WCD status, and parents’ perceptions of their children’s weight through a structured questionnaire. Results: The prevalence of WCD was identified as 3.8% among children, 35.4% among mothers, and 17.2% among fathers. Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed a positive association between the presence of WCD in children and factors such as girl sex, older age group, parental WCD history, and the child’s BMI for age z-score. Among mothers, the accuracy of perceiving their child as overweight was 76.0% for those on a diet and 78.5% for those not dieting. Fathers who were on a diet demonstrated the lowest accuracy (52.0%) in identifying their child as overweight. Conclusions: Parents’ WCD status and their perception of their child’s weight are important factors to consider in managing children’s weight control diets. Addressing these elements may improve outcomes in weight management for children. © The Author(s) 2025.