Doctors need to be honest with their patients and say ‘Your kid’s overweight’

According to a study published online in Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, doctor should tell parents when their children are overweight as this would improve their motivation to follow healthy eating and activity.

Perrin and co-authors Asheley Cockrell Skinner, and Michael J. Steiner, performed a secondary statistical analysis of data collected from 4,985 children ages 2 to 15 years old who had a body mass index (BMI) at or above the 85th percentile based on measured height and weight. The data were collected as part of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) from 1999 to 2008.

During that time, only 22 percent of parents reported that a doctor or other health professional told them their child was overweight. This percentage increased from 19.4 percent in 1999 to 23.4 percent in 2004, and then to 29.1 percent in 2007-2008. Even among parents of very obese children, only 58 percent recall a doctor telling them.

However, as shown in the journal Pediatrics parents are reluctant to be told that their children have an unhealthy weight.

Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/12/111205165122.htm