Public Opinion and Weight Action About Diet Nutrition and Physical Activity - Parents And Childhood Obesity

Mothers May Not Accurately Gauge Children's Weight

Parents play a pivotal role in terms of preventing childhood obesity by shaping their children's early eating and physical activity habits. Investigators at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Department of Pediatrics and Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, Ohio, observed that mothers of overweight preschoolers frequently appeared unaware of, or unconcerned about, their children's weight. To explore mothers' perceptions of overweight in children, why children become overweight, and barriers that prevent effective treatment of childhood obesity, Anjali Jain and FIGURE 11.10 How often individuals worry about their weight, by description of diet, 2005 Joseph Carroll, "How Often Do You Worry about Your Weight? By Description of Diet," in Who's Worried about Their Weight? The Gallup Organization, August 9, 2005, http://poll.gallup.com/content/default.aspx?ci=17752&pg=19 (accessed January 14, 2006). Copyright © 2005 by The Gallup Organization. Reproduced by permission of The Gallup Organization.her colleagues conducted group interviews with low-income mothers of pre-school children (twenty-four to sixty months old) who were overweight and determined to be at risk for obesity. They reported the results of these structured interviews in "Why Don't Low-Income Mothers Worry about Their Preschoolers Being Overweight?" (Pediatrics vol. 1,007, no. 5, May 2001).

The investigators found that unlike health professionals, who assess children's weight status by plotting height and weight on standard growth charts, mothers were more likely to express concern about children's overweight when their children were teased by peers or unable to participate in physical activities. The mothers did not consider their children overweight if the children were active, had a good appetite, and ate a healthy diet. Instead of describing their children as overweight, mothers described them as "thick," "strong," "big-boned," or "solid". The mothers interviewed also believed that an inherited tendency to be overweight, in terms of inherited metabolism or body type, practically guaranteed that the child would become overweight regardless of environmental factors. Given this perception, it was not surprising that the mothers believed they were unable to affect a child's biological predisposition to be overweight.

Parents Blame Lack of Physical Activity and Junk Food for Children's Weight Gain

A poll conducted in October 2005 by the Associated Press and Kids Online (the children's service of America FIGURE 11.11 How often individuals worry about their weight, by description of current health, 2005 Joseph Carroll, "How Often Do You Worry about Your Weight? By Description of Current Health," in Who's Worried about Their Weight? The Gallup Organization, August 9, 2005, http://poll.gallup.com/content/default.aspx?ci=17752&pg=19 (accessed January 14, 2006). Copyright © 2005 by The Gallup Organization. Reproduced by permission of The Gallup Organization.Online) surveyed attitudes about childhood obesity among 961 parents who had children between the ages of six and seventeen. The survey found that parents blamed lack of exercise as the number one reason their children are overweight, followed by fewer home-cooked meals, and easy access to fast food.

More than one-third (38%) of the parents in the AP-KOL poll named lack of exercise as the most important factor that has contributed to their children's overweight. More than half of the parents (52%) surveyed said their children had expressed a desire to exercise more, and 30% said their children wanted to lose weight.

Nearly half (49%) of parents said the lack of time for home-cooked meals posed a problem. Restaurant meals, especially fast food choices, tend to have more calories and fewer fruits and vegetables. Almost a quarter (23%) of parents who thought their children were overweight blamed easy access to junk food. Less than 10% of parents attributed their children's weight problems to eating unhealthy food (9%), overeating (8%), or parental food choices (7%).

The AP-KOL survey found that children whose parents earned less than $50,000 a year were slightly more likely to be overweight than those from more affluent families. One-quarter of the survey respondents named the cost of healthy food as a major problem they faced when trying to improve their children's eating habits, and an additional 32% said cost posed a minor problem.

A study conducted by the Rand Corporation confirmed that the cost of fresh fruits and vegetables is closely associated with weight gain among children and has better predictive value for overweight than whether they live near or frequent fast-food outlets. The study examined the weight gain of 6,918 children of varying socioeconomic backgrounds from fifty-nine U.S. metropolitan areas as the children progressed from kindergarten to third grade. The investigators did not analyze the children's diets but instead, compared their weight gain with the price of different types of foods and the number of food outlets in their areas.

They found that young children who lived in communities where fruits and vegetables were expensive were more likely to gain excessive amounts of weight than those who lived in areas where produce costs less. On average, children in the study gained twenty-nine pounds. In Mobile, Alabama, the region with the highest relative price for produce, children gained about 50% more excess weight as measured by BMI than children nationally.

In contrast, children in Visalia, California, the area with the lowest relative cost for fruits and vegetables, experienced excess weight gain that was about half the national average. The researchers opined that providing fruits and vegetables free to schoolchildren would improve their diets. The USDA launched such a program in about 100 schools, they observed, and it was met with enthusiastic support from parents and teachers. It is not yet known, however, whether the program has influenced participating children's weight (Roland Sturm and Ashlesha Datar, "Body Mass Index in Elementary School Children, Metropolitan Area Food Prices and Food Outlet Density" Public Health, September 2, 2005).