Parents Overweight = Overweight Children?

CHAPEL HILL, NC — Some simple interventions used by pediatricians were enough to change a parent’s perspective about a child’s being overweight or obese, and change the parent’s behaviors at home to reduce those risks.


According to a study performed in North Carolina Children’s Hospital, researchers confirmed previous reports that parents of overweight or obese children do not recognize their child’s weight problem. But this time, by arming pediatricians with a “toolkit,” an easily used chart and a series of questions and suggestions, the researchers addressed several problems.

“Doctors often don’t have time to discuss overweight; they don’t have the tools to do it; and many aren’t confident that they’re going to make a difference in their patients’ lives,” said Eliana Perrin, MD, MPH, assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine and lead author of the study, published in the July-August issue of Academic Pediatrics.