Obesity and its side effects is not just an adult problem. The percentage of children who are overweight or obese is skyrocketing and the numbers are only getting worse. A new study brings up a very good question. Do these children know they are over weight? Apparently doctors are not telling children or their parents there is a problem. Even though obesity among children is reaching epidemic proportions.
A study done for the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) indicates that doctors are reluctant to talk about weight problems with the parents of obese children. These kids are being set up for all kinds of problems later on in life including diabetes, heart disease, and joint problems along with many others. This may very possibly be the biggest health problem these kids face and yet their doctors don’t say a thing.
This study can be found at the Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine. In the study only 29% of parents with overweight children remembered their doctors ever mentioning the problem. This means almost three out four overweight children never hear from a health care provider that their weight is a problem.
Not only that, but only 58% of parents with children who are in the upper 1% of BMI values had a doctor tell them there was problem. This means that even the children who are fatter than 99% of all other children only had a about a one out of two chance of being told they needed to lose weight.
When I read about this study I could really relate to this problem. I have always gone for recommended checkups during my adult life. Most of that time I was overweight or obese. But, the only time weight was brought up was if I asked about help. My doctor was overweight so I suppose he didn’t feel comfortable bringing up the subject. He would usually give me some answer like I needed to cut down on calories and exercise more. Of course, he never said what he should which was, “YOU ARE KILLING YOURSELF, YOU MUST GET RID OF THE FAT.”
Childhood Obesity Causes
Of course we don’t know all the childhood obesity causes but ignoring the problem is definitely not a solution. Instead, if you have a child who is overweight or obese then it is time to face the facts. And, if you are overweight, shouldn’t this be a reason that you finally get the weight off and live a more healthy life?
I was obese through most of my school years and my parents never told me I was fat. I was always “big boned,” “husky,” or even “healthy.” But never did they say I needed to lose weight. Believe me, a 265 pound eighth grader needs to lose weight. I think this may be part of the reason I don’t have an accurate understanding of how I look now. Before I lost weight eating no carb foods, I really didn’t think I was all that fat. Until I looked at pictures that is. But this didn’t really happen very much because I either didn’t get my picture taken or I didn’t look at them.
Even today, when I look in the mirror, I have a hard to really evaluating how I look. I look a lot better than when I was obese but it really doesn’t register. I just never developed an honest self-image.
Don’t put this off another day. If you child is heading down the road to obesity then the first step is for you to recognize and accept that fact. The second step is to help them see it. And third, use a sound weight control program to get the fat off before it is too late. You don’t want your child fat and turning into a fat adult with all kinds of health problems.
