| Parents don't see obesity in their
children: study
By Patricia Reaney
LONDON (Reuters) - Parents are so accustomed to seeing overweight
youngsters that many fail to realize when their own children are
obese, British researchers said on Wednesday.
It is a worrying trend according to scientists at the Peninsula
Medical School in Plymouth, England because being overweight and
obese increases the risk of a variety of illnesses later in life.
Obese children are also more likely to develop type 2 diabetes,
a disease previously seen only in adults.
"A third of the mothers and 57 percent of dads actually saw
their obese child as normal," said Alison Jeffery, a member
of the research team at the medical school. "Quite a few parents
are not recognizing it as a problem. They are not recognizing the
health risks either," she added in an interview.
But Jeffery said it isn't a case of denial. "We are all used
to seeing people who are bigger than they used to be 20 years ago
and we just see people who are overweight as normal."
Jeffery, who presented her findings to the Diabetes UK medical
conference in Birmingham, England, questioned 300 seven-year old
children and their parents about their perceptions of body size.
One third of mothers and half of fathers who were either overweight
or obese rated themselves as "about right."
When the child was a normal weight, according to an internationally
recognized measurement of obesity in children, most of their parents,
regardless of their own size, knew there was no problem.
When the child was overweight but not obese, only a quarter of
the parents knew it. But when the youngsters were obese, 40 percent
of parents were not concerned about their child's weight.
Health experts have described the increased rates of obesity in
children as a serious public health problem because of its link
with diabetes as well as an increased risk of heart disease, stroke
and other illnesses later in life.
The prevalence of type 2 diabetes in obese children in Poland is
nearly four percent. In Hungary it is two percent and 1.6 percent
in Germany, according to recent research.
"Diabetes is hugely on the increase and we know that children
from as young as the age of seven have metabolic changes that are
precursors to diabetes if they are very overweight," said Jeffery.
"They may not be diabetic until they are older but you can
see it beginning."
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