Why do parents ignore childhood obesity?

Parents often fail to recognise their children's weight gain as a health concern, says a study. Parents of obese children often do not recognise the potentially serious health consequences of childhood weight gain or the importance of daily physical activity in helping their child reach a healthy weight, the findings showed. 'Parents have a hard time changing their child's dietary and physical activity behaviours,' said lead author Kyung Rhee, an assistant adjunct professor at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine in the US.

The study is based on a survey of 202 parents whose children were enrolled in an obesity clinic at the Hasbro Children's Hospital in Providence, Rhode Island in 2008 and 2009. Although most of the children had been referred to the obesity clinic by a primary care provider and had metabolic markers of obesity, 31.4 percent of parents perceived their child's health as excellent or very good and 28 percent did not perceive their child's weight as a health concern. The study appeared online in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. (Read: Tackling obesity in children)

What is childhood obesity?

Childhood obesity is a serious problem that is on the rise these days and there are enough reasons which contribute to the growing numbers. The prime one is sedentary lifestyles. Children don't play outdoor games these days. There aren't many facilities for playing games like basketball, football, cricket, etc. Moreover, they have options aplenty at home like watching TV, playing video games, mobile and computer games. (Read: Why is childhood obesity on the rise?)

With inputs from IANS

Image source: Getty Images

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