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Parents 'unaware' children are obese Article date: 2010-01-29 17:21:52

A significant proportion of parents whose children are overweight or obese consider their offspring to be at a healthy and usual weight.

Research carried out by the University Medical Centre Groningen in the Netherlands found that half of mothers and 39 per cent of fathers of obese four and five-year-olds thought their children were a normal weight.

The study, published in the journal Acta Paediatrica, interviewed 800 parents with a total of 439 children, of whom five per cent were classed as overweight and four per cent obese.

Of those parents with overweight children, 77 per cent of fathers and 75 per cent of mothers said they believed their offspring to weigh a normal amount.

"Overweight children are very likely to become overweight teenagers and adults, so intervening when they are aged between three and five could prevent weight problems later in life," said professor Pieter Sauer from the centre's paediatric department.

"It is vital that parents are aware of their children's weight if we are to prevent them becoming obese in later life."

In the UK, it is estimated that ten per cent of six-year-olds and 17 per cent of 15-year-olds are clinically obese.

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