Parents' perceptions of their child's weight among children in their first year of primary school: a mixed-methods analysis of an Australian cross-sectional (complete enumeration) study.

Parents do not accurately perceive their child's weight and few document concerns, even among children measuring in the obese BMI category. This lack of concern makes early interventions challenging as parents are in the "pre-contemplative" stage of behaviour change and may see public health campaigns or clinicians' attempts to address their child's weight as irrelevant or unhelpful.