Parents Turn Blind eye to Kids’ Weight
Reported November 30, 2004
(Ivanhoe Newswire)–When it comes to a child’s weight, parents may only see what they want to see, report investigators publishing in this week’s British Medical Journal.
Researchers studied 277 children with an average age of about 7 and identified the kids as overweight or obese. They then gathered parental perceptions of the children’s weight issues.
Results show only about 25 percent of the parents of overweight children recognized their children as such. Even when children were obese, about one-third of mothers and a little more than half of fathers still thought their children looked “about right.”
The study noted gender differences as well. Overall, parents were significantly more likely to notice weight problems in their daughters than in their sons, with about half recognizing overweight and obesity problems in girls and just around one-quarter recognizing similar problems in boys.
Among parents who did notice weight problems in their kids, many showed little concern over the issue. Only about one-quarter of those with overweight kids said they were worried about the problem. That number increased to about one-half among parents whose children were considered obese.
Why aren’t more parents noticing weight problems in their children? The authors offer several possible explanations. “The reasons for poor awareness might include denial, reluctance to admit a weight problem, or desensitization to excess weight because being overweight has become normal,” they write.
SOURCE: British Medical Journal, published online Nov. 25, 2004
