New Research Finds Parents of Overweight Preschoolers Are Not Aware or Concerned About Their Child's Weight
New research shows that parents of overweight and obese preschoolers are often not concerned or even aware that their
child is overweight. The research finding by Dr Michele Campbell and team from the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute
at the Royal Children’s Hospital in Victoria was submitted at the RACP Annual Scientific Meeting held in Wellington
today.
Parents of 341 four year olds completed a questionnaire, which asked them about their concern for their child’s current
weight, whether they felt their child was currently over- or underweight and how their child’s weight compared to their
peers.
All children were measured to determine their weight status according to international standards.
The rate of overweight/obesity in the children tested was 19 per cent, however only 5 per cent of parents were
concerned that their child was currently overweight.
“Despite the increased media attention and publicity about obesity in children, many parents still thought their
overweight/obese child had a normal weight for their age, whilst others with children in the normal weight range felt
they were underweight,” said Dr Campbell.
“This may reflect just how common being overweight has become. However, there are also more complex reasons why parents
may not perceive their child as overweight that need to be addressed,” she said.
“We also found that parents with overweight sons were much less likely to be concerned about their child’s weight than
parents with overweight daughters. This suggests that social values about the acceptability of overweight by gender are
already apparent at a very early age,” Dr Campbell said.
“The number of overweight and obese preschoolers is increasing. These children are more likely to be overweight as
adults and risk facing a wide range of health problems, including heart disease and diabetes. Increasing parent
awareness about preschooler overweight and addressing their concerns should be part of a broad-based approach to
encourage healthy and active lifestyles for all children,” she said. The RACP is responsible for training, educating and
representing over 9,000 physicians in Australia and New Zealand. The RACP represents 23 medical sub-specialities
including paediatrics, public health and occupational medicine. Physicians are often called specialists and are doctors
who have completed an extra six years or more of training after their initial medical training and choose to specialise
in a particular area of medicine.