When Parents See Their Kids As Overweight, They May End Up Being One

A new study suggested that there's an increased risk of weighing more if the parents think that the child is overweight. This is contrary to the general belief that kids lose weight when their parents think they're overweight.

Fighting Childhood Obesity

In an effort to combat childhood obesity in the United States, health programs are trying to make parents aware that their children are overweight. When you realize that your child is overweight, then you'd take steps to control their diet and encourage them to exercise more. However, a new study seems to contradict this belief, CNN reported.

Parents' Perception of Their Kid's Weight

The study published on April 21 in the journal Pediatrics monitored 3,557 Australian children and their parents to see how parents can influence children's future weight gain. "Generally, parents of healthy weight kids in this study assessed their weight status accurately," Dr. Eric Robinson of the University of Liverpool in the United Kingdom and co-author of the study was quoted by Reuters.

At the start of the study, the children were around four to five years old. The team determined the body mass index (BMI) of each kid. Three-quarters of the kids were of normal weight based on their height. Meanwhile, 20 percent were considered overweight or obese and the remaining 5 percent are underweight.

Then they asked their parents, mostly their mothers, if their kid was overweight or not.

Researchers found that four out of five overweight children were considered by their parent as normal weight. Only one out of five overweight kids was seen by parents as being one. Turns out, this one kid has the highest chances of becoming heavier by the end of the study period, Fox News reported.

"In this case, misperception may be protective," said Angelina R. Sutin, who led the research. Sutin believes that parents who already considered their kid as overweight could have limited their food. In turn, the kid may have rebelled and ended up eating more. Another possibility was parents shaming their kids about their weight, which prompted them to overeat.

Lacking Evidence

The researchers admit that there are various limitations in the study. The researchers only based their findings on BMI and no other measures such as adiposity was considered. More so, they have lacking data on why parents perceived their children as overweight and what actions did they take.

However, seeing that parents' perception of kids' weight can affect the latter's future weight, should prompt parents to take positive action towards the problem. To know the health risks of obesity, check out the video below: