Parents Don’t See Their Kids As Fat, Say Doctors

It isn’t just that kids today are eating too much and are not active enough, the problem of childhood obesity goes deeper than that according to doctors – it is parents who are unable to see that their kids are overweight that is the problem say pediatricians.

childhood obesityA Canadian survey examined more than 860 pediatricians and family doctors for a newly published study.

It was found that parents who are themselves overweight tend to be defensive about issues concerning their child’s weight. Because of this they show little interest in helping their children lose excess weight, which is a key to why so many children are growing up fat today.

Another problem is doctors who either lack the time and resources or the professional training to deal with the situation.

For instance billing codes limit the amount of time that a physician will typically spend with a patient, with 13 minutes being the time taken for the initial assessment and 10 minutes of the follow up consultations being the average.

Though childhood obesity is such a very serious issue, doctors admit that they are only able to be successful in managing this issue to an extent of about 20%.