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Parents of overweight children usually fail to recognize
that their young child is overweight. Among parents of severely obese
children, only 3% considered the child to be overweight and in fact, a
much higher percentage (8%) actually considered them to be underweight,
with the remaining vast majority thinking that their child's weight was
normal.
The researchers surveyed 1,180 low-income families
with children aged 1 to 5 years. Researchers measured obesity using the
child's body mass index (BMI), which is calculated by taking the child's
weight in kilograms and dividing it by the child's height in meters squared.
The study showed some cultural differences in this phenomena, with Hispanic
children being more likely to be overweight and their parents more likely
to consider them normal or underweight. Many obese children were offered
dessert as a reward for finishing their meal.
Combined
annual meeting of the Pediatric Academic Societies and the American Academy
of Pediatrics May 19, 2000
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