Perceptions of Childhood Obesity and Diet Quality

4.8/5 - (37 votes)

One reason kids may not be eating more healthfully is that their parents vastly overestimate the quality of their child’s diet.

Discuss
Republish

Below is an approximation of this video’s audio content. To see any graphs, charts, graphics, images, and quotes to which Dr. Greger may be referring, watch the above video.

In response to the rising rates of childhood obesity, English children started getting screened at school, and their parents informed of their kid’s weight status and the risk of excess body fat. It did not go well. Telling parents that a lifetime of excess body fat can increase cancer risk, for example, caused “controversy and anger.” Parents attributed weight to genetics or puppy fat, claiming their kids had healthy diets.

One reason kids may not be eating more healthfully is that their parents overestimate the quality of their child’s diet. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. I mean, if they think their kids are already eating well, then there’s no reason to change. The mothers of 2,000 preschoolers were interviewed. What percentage of moms believed that their child’s diet was good? The vast majority. What percentage of their kids’ diets were actually good, even just according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Healthy Eating guidelines, which aren’t exactly strict? Only 0.2 percent—one in every 500 kids! The vast majority of mothers overestimated the quality of their child’s diet.

Here’s an updated study. Another 2,000 households, just seeing if kids meet the fruit, vegetable, and sugar recommendations from the U.S. dietary guidelines and the American Heart Association. Researchers looked at kids from ages three through 18, and relied on reporting from their own parents as to what they were eating. Overall, the majority of parents strongly agreed that their children ate healthfully. So, how many of 2,229 households met the guidelines to eat even the minimum recommended amounts of fruits and veggies, and not eat more than six spoonsful of sugar a day? Zero. Not a single kid, in a single household. On average, the kids were eating more than 15 spoonfuls of added sugar every day.

Parental denial over the healthfulness of their children’s diet mirrors the parental denial that their overweight and obese kids are even overweight at all. Based on surveys in more than 20 countries, 94 percent of parents with obese children believe that their children are normal weight or only “a little overweight.” 94 percent! And the greater the obesity prevalence, the more likely parents think their kids look normal, because they kind of do, more and more. But this underestimation of their child’s weight status is a barrier to slowing the childhood obesity epidemic. And just as parents of overweight kids fail to recognize that their kids are overweight, overweight parents are also in denial about their own weight. This is not surprising. Who wants to admit they are part of a widely stigmatized group? Of course, researchers aren’t helping matters when they title their papers about parental misperception about overweight kids: “Every cockroach is beautiful to his mother’s eyes.”

Please consider volunteering to help out on the site.

Motion graphics by Avo Media

Below is an approximation of this video’s audio content. To see any graphs, charts, graphics, images, and quotes to which Dr. Greger may be referring, watch the above video.

In response to the rising rates of childhood obesity, English children started getting screened at school, and their parents informed of their kid’s weight status and the risk of excess body fat. It did not go well. Telling parents that a lifetime of excess body fat can increase cancer risk, for example, caused “controversy and anger.” Parents attributed weight to genetics or puppy fat, claiming their kids had healthy diets.

One reason kids may not be eating more healthfully is that their parents overestimate the quality of their child’s diet. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. I mean, if they think their kids are already eating well, then there’s no reason to change. The mothers of 2,000 preschoolers were interviewed. What percentage of moms believed that their child’s diet was good? The vast majority. What percentage of their kids’ diets were actually good, even just according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Healthy Eating guidelines, which aren’t exactly strict? Only 0.2 percent—one in every 500 kids! The vast majority of mothers overestimated the quality of their child’s diet.

Here’s an updated study. Another 2,000 households, just seeing if kids meet the fruit, vegetable, and sugar recommendations from the U.S. dietary guidelines and the American Heart Association. Researchers looked at kids from ages three through 18, and relied on reporting from their own parents as to what they were eating. Overall, the majority of parents strongly agreed that their children ate healthfully. So, how many of 2,229 households met the guidelines to eat even the minimum recommended amounts of fruits and veggies, and not eat more than six spoonsful of sugar a day? Zero. Not a single kid, in a single household. On average, the kids were eating more than 15 spoonfuls of added sugar every day.

Parental denial over the healthfulness of their children’s diet mirrors the parental denial that their overweight and obese kids are even overweight at all. Based on surveys in more than 20 countries, 94 percent of parents with obese children believe that their children are normal weight or only “a little overweight.” 94 percent! And the greater the obesity prevalence, the more likely parents think their kids look normal, because they kind of do, more and more. But this underestimation of their child’s weight status is a barrier to slowing the childhood obesity epidemic. And just as parents of overweight kids fail to recognize that their kids are overweight, overweight parents are also in denial about their own weight. This is not surprising. Who wants to admit they are part of a widely stigmatized group? Of course, researchers aren’t helping matters when they title their papers about parental misperception about overweight kids: “Every cockroach is beautiful to his mother’s eyes.”

Please consider volunteering to help out on the site.

Motion graphics by Avo Media

Doctor's Note

For even more on weight control, go to your local public library and check out my book, How Not to Diet, available in print, e-book, and audio. (All proceeds I receive from the book are donated directly to charity.)

For more on childhood obesity, see:

If you haven't yet, you can subscribe to our free newsletter. With your subscription, you'll also get notifications for just-released blogs and videos. Check out our information page about our translated resources.

Subscribe to our free newsletter and receive “In Dr. Greger’s Kitchen,” an excerpt from The How Not to Age Cookbook.

Pin It on Pinterest

Share This