Issue 216 Item 13 Parents Must Get Involved To Combat Childhood Obesity

Parents of overweight children treat mealtime differently than parents of healthy children. Research suggests healthy-eating, active parents often pass their habits onto their kids, just as sedentary parents do, said Edward Laskowski, co-director of the Sports Medicine Center at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn.

Laskowski suggests overweight parents serious about making themselves and their kids healthier start by holding a family meeting.
"You’ve got to say, ‘Hey kids, you know we’ve been doing the wrong thing here. Mom and Dad are wrong too, and we’ve got to lose some weight. We don’t want you to make the mistakes we’ve made,’" he said.

Family bike rides, walks, hikes or doubles tennis are ways to get the whole family burning calories. Making sure everyone sits down together for a healthy dinnertime meal is another important step, he said.
Since the early 1970s, the percentage of American children and adolescents defined as overweight has more than doubled, to about 15 percent, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Three out of four overweight teenagers remain overweight into adulthood. With two-thirds of American adults now overweight, they face an increased risk of diabetes, heart disease and other illnesses.
Barbara Dennison, an associate professor of clinical pediatrics at Columbia University, said so many children are now overweight or obese that it has changed parents’ frame of reference. She said parents, particularly those who are obese, often do not realize their child is overweight.

Two years ago, in interviews with 1,180 parents of overweight children, Dennison found that only about 25 percent of those parents realized their child had a weight problem.

Her research also found that parents of overweight children treat mealtime differently than parents of healthy children, often allowing the child to choose the meal, which typically is something less nutritious. Some parents even used sweets to encourage their child to finish a meal.

With America’s youth getting fat on calorie-packed fast foods and snacks and spending too much time in front of the TV or the computer, Dennison said parents need to practice what they preach.

"Parents are children’s best and first role models. You can’t have Mom watching TV for hours and saying, ‘No, Johnny, you can’t watch TV, it’s bad for you,’" she said.

Betsy A. Keller, an associate professor of exercise and sport sciences at Ithaca College in New York, recently surveyed 130 parents about their children’s weight and lifestyle.

She found that half of the parents of overweight children underestimated their child’s weight status, deeming them at a normal weight. Keller said her study also found that parents misjudge how much exercise their children get.

"I don’t think we’re going to get at this issue of obesity until we ask the hard questions: What are you feeding your kid? What are you putting on the table? Why are you not doing some kind of physical activity with your kids?" she said.

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FACT: Researchers conclude most sedentary people can prevent weight gain by walking 30 minutes every day, says Dr. Slentz at Duke Medical Center. From the results of an exercise study it was learned that it’s a balance of input and output. “Instead of counting calories just weigh yourself regularly. If you’re gaining weight then you’re eating more then you’re exercising. You need to bump up your exercise.”