This study aims to characterize mother's perception of their children's nutritional status and highlight factors interfering in this perception, based on a systematic literature review. To select the articles, the databases Lilacs and Medline were used, and the final sample consisted of 17 articles whose full version was analyzed. The aspects that emerged from the selected articles are presented, configuring a descriptive analysis by categorization. The findings refer to the mother's nutritional status related to the child's nutritional status; sociocultural standards and perception of the child's weight; use of growth graphs by health professionals and the mothers' view. It is difficult for the mothers to recognize their child's weight and the factors that can influence weight perception are: child's age, gender, weight, social and cultural standards and mother's education level.
Child; Mothers; Weight perception