Word: childe
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...national poll from C.S. Mott Children's Hospital at the University of Michigan asked parents to report their oldest child's weight and height and then gauge whether he or she was a healthy size. "About 40% of parents of obese children ages 6 to 11 perceived their children's weight status to be 'about the right weight,'" says Matthew Davis, the University of Michigan pediatrician who directed the poll. A further 8% believed their child was actually underweight. "It's almost as if parents don't know what obese looks like in that school-age group," Davis says...
...problem. Today roughly 17% of American kids and teens are obese, and parents cite obesity as a top concern for their children's health. Yet with so many other overweight kids in the class, it appears that parents can't recognize - or admit it to themselves - when their child is too heavy. When they do realize it, like Becky Cohn, parents often are upset or don't know how to implement pediatricians' vague orders about exercise and diet - much the way overweight adults are flummoxed by the same recommendations. (Read "Making Good Health Easy...
...quandary, doctors may be reluctant to raise the issue in the first place. Checkups are typically too brief to allow a doctor to broach the topic tactfully and work out a detailed, practical weight-loss plan. Some doctors fear they will worsen the problem by embarrassing the child and instilling shame instead of empowering him or her to get healthy. And doctors worry about turning off Mom and Dad as well. "Every parent feels guilty that their child has a weight problem," says David Ludwig, the director of the Optimal Weight for Life Program at Children's Hospital Boston...
...Ludwig reminds parents they are not solely to blame for their child's weight. Many other environmental influences - from fatty school lunches to fast-food ads - are simply outside parents' control. That doesn't mean they can't make a difference at home, though, by getting junk food out of the cupboards, limiting TV time and - most important - being good role models. "The tragedy that so often occurs is that parents, out of fear for their kids' health, make a bad situation worse by using coercive parenting practices," Ludwig says. In his book, Ludwig writes that forcing certain dieting rules...
What's clear is that childhood obesity cannot be solved in a single doctor's visit. Ludwig sometimes spends several sessions with a patient at his Boston clinic before coming up with a concrete plan - and persuading the child to cooperate. "Many children come in at first unwilling to talk about the problem. They feel so embarrassed," Ludwig says. But when change comes, it can make a huge difference. "With just the smallest tangible results, a sense of empowerment can grow," Ludwig says. "The child may go from denying a problem exists and fighting their parents' efforts tooth and nail...