Not all parents are open to making lifestyle changes that
could help their overweight children shed pounds -- particularly
if they don't view the child's weight as a health problem,
a new study shows.
Many healthcare providers assume that parents are eager
to make changes to help their children lose weight, Dr.
Kay Rhee of Boston Medical Center stated.
But in her team's study, of 151 parents of children who
were overweight or on the verge of being overweight, 44
percent of parents said they were not planning on instituting
lifestyle changes any time soon.
Thirty-eight percent of parents said they would make such
changes soon or were already doing so; this was the group
deemed "ready to change."
The study, published in the journal Pediatrics, found that
parents of older children -- those ages 8 to 12 -- were
three times more likely than those of younger children to
make lifestyle changes than were parents of younger children.
The same was true of parents who believed their child's
weight was a health issue; they were nearly 10 times more
likely than other parents to say they were ready to take
actions such as increasing their kids' fruit and vegetable
intake, limiting TV time and encouraging exercise.
Parents were also more open to change if they viewed themselves
as overweight.
The study included mostly black and Hispanic families seen
at a Philadelphia pediatric practice. The children were
between the ages of 2 and 12, and all were either overweight
or at risk of becoming so.
According to Rhee, it's not certain whether it's better
for parents to make lifestyle changes for their overweight
children at an early age. "But," the researcher noted, "children
do develop eating habits early in life and it is difficult
to change as they get older."
One of the things that makes it hard for parents to make
lifestyle adjustments, Rhee pointed out, is that they themselves
may have to overhaul their diets.
But if parents recognize the immediate health problems
associated with childhood obesity, she and her colleagues
write, that could motivate them to change.
The long-term risks of obesity -- including diabetes, high
blood pressure and heart disease -- seem like distant, "adult"
diseases, Rhee said. But, she added, there can be more-immediate
problems as well, such as poor capacity for exercise --
which makes weight loss difficult -- exacerbation of asthma
and orthopedic injuries.
If parents are aware of these potential problems, according
to Rhee, lifestyle changes may take on more importance to
them.
SOURCE: Pediatrics, July 2005.
