Parents Tend to Feel Their Child is ‘About The Right Weight’

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All parents care about their children. But there is a disconnect with parental caring when a child is overweight or obese. In spite of data to the contrary, the majority of parents feel that their child is “about the right weight.” according to a new study led by the New York University Langone Medical Center. These results are important because parents with accurate perceptions of their children’s weight are more likely to implement behavior changes, in themselves and the child, that could lead to weight reduction.

Published online in the journal Childhood Obesity using the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, the study looked at NHANES data covering nearly 8,000 children, 2 to 5 years old during two periods between 1988 through 2012. About 19 in 20 parents of boys thought their kids were “about the right weight,” while about 9 in ten parents thought their girls were about the right weight.

Rose-tinted glasses

Dustin Duncan, Sc.D., lead author of the study wrote, “The results are consistent with past studies in which a considerably high number of parents incorrectly perceived their overweight/obese preschool child as being ‘just about the right weight.’”

Like most things in life, getting off to a good start can really help. Many overweight and obese children have not had that good start, and overweight kids tend to grow up to be overweight or obese adults. The best way to address this is with the child’s parents or caretakers, as well as with the education of the child.

One of the disappointing results of the study was that even thought the children in the second study group were significantly more overweight than the children in the first study group, the parents’ perception of their children remained unchanged. Perhaps this is due to two factors: Parents typically compare their own child to other kids in deciding if their child is overweight, and in addition, parent’s rising weight seems to parallel the rising body weight of children for the same time period.

Unfortunately, the evaluation of a child’s weight has moved out of the doctor’s office. Now many schools have decided not only to educate kids about health but also to spread this news home to the parents by sending them a report based on the child’s BMI.

Kiddy BMI

The BMI classifications for children is not the same as for adults and this probably adds to the confusion. In addition to the height and weight numbers used for adult BMI the child’s sex is taken into consideration. The word “obese” is not used. And the classifications are “graded on the curve,” using percentile rankings comparing all children of the particular age, based on collected national data.

The four BMI categories for kids are:

• Underweight: BMI less than the 5th percentile

• Healthy Weight: BMI 5th percentile up to the 85th percentile

• At Risk of Overweight: BMI 85th to less than 95th percentile

• Overweight: BMI greater than or equal to the 95th percentile

In addition, if that isn’t bad enough, there is a chart compiled by the Centers For Disease Control that predicts where the child BMI will end up in adulthood.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

I question whether schools should be involved with this.

Teaching about health is very important, and it should be in the curriculum. But concern about weight needs to be addressed by health care personnel, preferably doctors.

To add to the problem, obesity is a societal problem that goes far beyond the walls of the classroom. We live in a society that creates obesity and does little to stop it. When the village really wants to raise the child and involve itself with useful ways to help, great, but until then, educate the child about the recognition, causes, and ramifications of obesity. Then with these roots of knowledge and their acquired wings to fly, let them go live, take responsibility, and make their own decisions about being the right weight for better or ill.

By Dr. J, a maxillofacial surgeon living in Florida. Dr. J has travelled to Haiti to treat indigent patients and has taught as an associate professor at a Florida dental college. In his spare time Dr. J is a dedicated runner as well as a pilot who flies his Piper Cherokee Arrow throughout Florida. He has a black belt in karate. Dr. J has written for CalorieLab since 2007.

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