In News

Follow this topic

Record learning outcomes

Parents are failing to recognise when their child is overweight or obese, reveals new research. A survey of parents of 2,976 children taking part in the National Child Measurement Programme discovered that nearly a third of parents underestimated their child's body mass index (BMI). Only four parents thought that their child was overweight despite the fact that 369 children were officially identified as such.

The researchers from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and UCL Institute of Child Health speculate that parents are not spotting obesity in their children because society has lost its sense of a healthy weight. Senior author Dr Sanjay Kinra warned: €If parents are unable to accurately classify their own child's weight, they many not be willing or motivated to enact the changes to the child's environment that promote healthy weight maintenance.€