Parents 'don't recognize obesity'

The British government is launching a plan to tackle obesity by helping parents recognize the warning signs that their children are overweight. It follows a claim by the Medical Research Council that many people do not know their children are overweight.

The Human Nutrition Research Unit's review of the evidence showed people have a poor perception of their own weight status and are even worse at spotting when their child is overweight or obese. Busy lifestyles, irregular working hours and fears that having a healthy lifestyle is too difficult to achieve also put people off healthy choices.

According to the report, average time spent preparing meals has fallen from two hours to just 20 minutes over the past two decades. And safety concerns prevent children being allowed to walk to school or play outside. One of the biggest problems facing parents is their child's willingness to accept new foods. Trying to coax children to eat healthily often takes a backseat to trying to have a pleasant mealtime, said the researchers. While more than 40% of children over the age of six choose their evening meal, they lack the skills to choose wisely.

Steve - it is encouraging to see that the British government is realizing that parents need to be galvanized. We need to do the same thing here.