Large number of parents see their overweight child as normal and their normal child as underweight

Main Category: Obesity / Weight Loss / Fitness
Article Date: 05 Jun 2004 - 13:00 PDT

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As the number of fat children increases, many parents see their overweight children as normal. It is natural for parents to look around; when they do, they see lots of fat children, their fat child looks like an average child.

The problem for society is that we could be building up latent health problems, such as diabetes, heart disease and strokes.

This is according to a study carried out in the UK. Team leader, Alison Jeffery, Derriford Hospital, UK, said "I asked children and parents whether they recognized when they were overweight. Three quarters of the parents did not realise when their overweight child was overweight."

When Jeffery interviewed 300 children she found that 62% of them thought they weighed less than they really did. The survey was called 'Early Bird Survey'.

Jeffery added "67% of the mothers and 47% of the fathers didn't realize that their child had a weight problem and saw their child as normal."

Jeffery presented her findings at the American Diabetes Association's Annual Meeting, Orlando. Florida, USA (June 4).

When talking about obesity and diabetes risk, Jeffery said "….if parents aren't even seeing it in their children, they are unlikely to do anything about it…..we are now seeing people who are overweight as normal."

Even more alarming, Jeffery pointed out, was that many parents of normal-weight kids think their child is underweight. She says she has parents coming to her with perfectly healthy children asking whether they should feed them more. Jeffery said it is crucial to raise weight awareness in parents of their children.

What is childhood obesity?

Recent studies in the UK have shown a dramatic rise in childhood obesity in the last 20 years. Many parents underestimate the degree to which their child is overweight and indeed, there has never been an international consensus on the definition of obesity. One of the more reliable methods of checking if a child is obese is to look at body mass index (BMI) centiles, which provide a measure of body fat based on height and weight.

Children can become overweight as young as five and into adolescents. Unless controlled with healthier diet and exercise patterns obesity can continue into adulthood, increasing the risk of physical problems in later life. It is therefore important to manage and control weight gain at an early stage by establishing healthy eating patterns which will help to prevent your child becoming overweight. When a child is overweight the best time to intervene is around the age of eight or nine.

What are the causes?

GENETIC

There are some risk factors for obesity which cannot be changed. For example, some children are more prone to putting weight on than others. Being genetically predisposed to obesity is not uncommon when there is a family history of this. In very rare cases there may be a medical cause for weight gain.

Mental health problems in parents have been shown to be associated with an increased risk of obesity.

These factors are unlikely to have changed over the last 20 years and it is therefore likely that much of the observed increase in cases of obesity is associated with other factors. The good news is that the following factors are amenable to change.

SEDENTRY BEHAVIOUR

Lifestyles tend to be more sedentry than in the past, for example:

-- Playing on gameboys and being taken to school by car. This increases the liklihood that children will consume more calories than the body can burn during a day.

-- Unhealthy eating habits. (The availability of and reliance on) convenience food and pre prepared meals (which) are often high in fat and/or sugar content, as are many of the popular children's snacks such as crisps and cola drinks.

Other factors associated with weight gain include:

-- Inactivity, for example watching TV, rather than participating in sport or playing outside.

-- Binge/comfort eating. For example, offering a food treat to comfort an upset child rather than talking about the problem or some other distraction.

WHAT ARE THE DANGERS?

If not properly treated obesity has these risks:

-- it places strain on the joints, heart and lungs

-- it increases the risks of early osteoarthritis, breathing problems, high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease and stroke

-- it can also be associated with feelings of depression and anxiety, especially in older children (adolescents) when body image becomes increasingly important.

MANAGEMENT AND PREVENTION

Preventing obesity is much easier than treating it if the right eating and lifestyle habits are introduced in early childhood. Take a sensible approach by being aware of the relationship between exercise and the amount that your child eats, as well as what they eat. Dieting can be counterproductive.

Simply reducing calories, rather than focusing on a healthy balanced diet, as well as being psychologically stressful, could adversely affect growth and the child's interpretation of normal eating. Instead the following steps could be applied as a simple guide:

-- Focus on controlling weight through healthy eating rather than controlling calories. Try, for example, encouraging your child to have fruit instead of crisps and chocolate.

-- Try and limit crisps and sweets to rare treats.

-- Ensure that the whole family eats healthily. Establish a pattern of sitting down to family meals rather than eating whilst watching television.

-- Monitor the amount of time spent sitting watching TV or playing on a computer and suggest alternative activities, such as joining a club or going swimming.

-- Encourage regular exercise and a more a active and fun family lifestyle with family walks and hikes.

-- Teach children to recognise when they are full or hungry and not to use food as a way of alleviating boredom or dealing with frustrations. Please note that it is important to look at the child's diet in conjunction with healthy eating and lifestyle plans. If concerned please see your doctor.