Parents Rank Their Obese Children as Very Healthy

It has been found by a study led by San Diego School of Medicine that parents of overweight children seldom acknowledge the potential severity of the situation and most often are unaware of the possible consequences of childhood weight gain. They also fail to recognise the importance of a daily workout routine in helping their child reach a healthy weight. The study is published online in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.

Lead author Kyung Rhee, MD, and an assistant adjunct professor in the Department of Pediatrics, said, "Parents have a hard time changing their child's dietary and physical activity behaviors. Our study tells us what factors may be associated with a parent's motivation to help their child become more healthy."

For the study, 202 parents whose children had enrolled in an obesity clinic at the Hasbro Children's Hospital in Providence, Rhode Island, in 2008 and 2009 were surveyed. They looked into the willingness factor of the parents', whether they were keen on taking necessary steps towards the improvement of their child's eating habits and physical activity levels. The children were from varied age groups of 5 to 20 years. More than two-thirds were female, and 94 per cent were clinically classified as obese. But 31.4 per cent of parents believed that their child's health was "excellent or very good" and 28 per cent did not find their child's weight as a health concern.

Parents were more concerned about their child having a healthy diet and did not bother about the pediatrician-recommended hour of daily physical activity.

About 61.4 per cent of parents were keen on improving their child's eating habits and did not pay too much attention towards physical activity, while only 41.1 per cent said they would increase their child's participation in physical activitie, in recognition that it is important that the children are encouraged to follow a healthy diet and an active lifestyle.

Researchers are still looking for answers as to why parents overlook the role of physical activity for good health. They stated that parents who are suffering from obesity themselves were less likely to address their child's eating habits, and those who spoke to their physicians about healthy-eating strategies are seen to take their child's diet more seriously.

Researchers also stated that one way to stop this trend is to intervene early and advise parents of younger children about the importance of good health and the need for physical activity.