Parents Are Not Able To Tell If Their Child is Obese, Study Finds

It is very hard for parents to spot obesity in their children. This could result in severe consequences for their health.

According to the BBC, in a recent study conducted in the UK, out of 2,976 families, only 4 parents thought that their child was overweight. In the British Journal of General Practice, the researchers wrote that being obese, has become the new normal in the society.

The National Child Measurement Programme shows that 1 out of every 5 children in Year 6 are obese, which is a whopping number.

So where is this blind spot? Why do parents think that their children are not obese?

The London School of Hygiene and Topical Medicine and the UCL Institute of Child Health prepared to present 3,000 families with questionnaires that included questions that would help them determine if the families thought that their children were obese, overweight, underweight or a healthy weight.

The results showed that 31% of the parents underestimated the weight of their children.

The primary reason as to why parents are not able to identify their children as being obese, is because we, society as a whole, has become so fat that we have already lost our sense of determining a healthy weight.

Professor Russel Viner from the Institute of Child Health told that "If parents don't recognize a child is obese then they're very unlikely to do anything to help their child move to a more healthy weight." He further says that "We need to find some tool to educate parents, when their child is born, what they should expect a child's size to be and not to be afraid of talking to parents over fears they, or the child, will reach badly."

Shirley Cramer, the chief executive of the Royal Society for Public Health says that the school education should focus on the importance of active lifestyles and healthy diets to ensure that our society understands the relationship between a good diet and good health.