Majority of parents with overweight children don’t see it as a problem.
A study led by the San Diego University of Medicine in the United States found parents of overweight children seldom acknowledge the potential severity of the situation. Most are also unaware of the risks of childhood weight gain and of the benefits of daily exercise to reach and maintain a healthy weight.
Lead author of the study, Kyung Rhee, MD, 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.”
The study, published online in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics surveyed over 200 parents of children who had enrolled in an obesity clinic in Rhode Island in 2008 and 2009. The researchers looked into whether the parents were willing to take the necessary steps to improve their child’s eating and exercise habits.
The children were aged between 5 to 20 years old, two-thirds were female, and 94 percent were classed as clinically obese. Worryingly 31 percent of parents believed their child’s health was “excellent or very good” and 28 percent did not find their child’s weight to be a health concern.
The results showed parents were more concerned about their children eating healthily, while ignoring or not bothering with the recommended one hour of physical activity per day. Over half (61%) of parents were improving their child’s eating habits (less junk food, more fruit and vegetables) but did not pay much attention to physical activity.
Intervene early to form good habits
Only 41 percent of parents said they were increasing the amount of physical activity their children were engaged in, including dancing, sports, and even walking. Both diet and exercise are considered vital for good health, and growing evidence points to these health habits being learned early in life.
Parents who had spoken to their family doctor regarding healthy eating plans for their children were more likely to be in the “action stage of change”. Parents who viewed their own weight problems as a health concern were less likely to be dealing with their child’s weight issues.
In terms of physical activity the researchers were unsure why parents were placing less of an emphasis on it than on health diet. It does however, support the view the children are becoming more sedentary and out of shape, with active play being replaced by “screentime”.
Experts say one strategy to help children become healthy adults is to intervene early to help develop good habits. Parents with children older than 14 were much less likely to be successful at helping their children develop good exercise habits.
Image: Grocery Bag of Junk Foods by National Cancer Institute under a public domain licence.