Maternal perception of their child’s nutritional status and the actual nutritional status of children under 3 years of age in an urban district of Lima

Objectives: Determining the degree of agreement between maternal perception of their child’s nutritional status and the actual nutritional status, as well as the relationship between maternal perception, nutritional status, and sociodemographic characteristics in children under 3 years of age in an urban district of Lima Metropolitana. Methods: Observational cross-sectional study in a non-random stratified sample from the RIS Rímac, including 367 children and their mothers. Data were collected on maternal perception of nutritional status, age, and educational level; weight and height of mothers and children were measured for concordance analysis. Results: 60.76% of mothers were at risk of being overweight, and more than 50% of mothers of overweight and obese children did not correctly identify their child’s nutritional status. A kappa index of 0.0304 was found between maternal perception and the child’s nutritional status. Conclusions: Very high rates of overweight were found among mothers, with no agreement between maternal perception and the actual nutritional status of their children, and a significant discrepancy between maternal perception and the nutritional status of both the child and the mother.