KUER Local News
(2007-12-10)
ANN ARBOR
(Michigan Radio) -
Many parents don't worry enough about their overweight children. A University of Michigan poll found that more than 40% of parents of obese young children said their kids were about the right weight. Less than 10% said they were very concerned about their children's weight. Pediatrician Matthew Davis directed the poll. He said parents view childhood obesity as a national problem, but that doesn't translate to how they see their own children.
"Obesity is seen as a major concern, but on the other hand, parents of obese children tend not to see their own children as at risk," said Davis. "And there may be some issue of parents seeing their own children with maybe not rose-colored glasses, but certainly different perspectives... than they see in the general community at large."
Davis said parents may assume young children will grow out of obesity. The poll found parents were much more worried about their obese teenagers.
Davis said parents in the West and Midwest tended to be less concerned about their children's weight than parents in the South and Northeast.
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