HALF of parents with a fat child are in denial about their child's weight

Half of parents with an overweight child are in denial about their child’s size, new research suggests.

Some 50 per cent of parents with an overweight or obese child think their child is slimmer than they actually are, according to a review of past studies.

In 69 studies of more than 15,000 children, researchers found many parents with an overweight child thought their son or daughter was at a healthy weight or below.

Others with an obese child thought their youngster was normal or 'just a bit heavy'.

‘We know that parents play a very crucial role in preventing childhood obesity, and interventions are most successful if they involve parents,’ said Alyssa Lundahl who led the study at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

But, Ms Lundahl said, if parents do not recognise their child is overweight, or are not concerned, they are not going to take steps to address it.

‘Previous research has found that when parents’ perceptions are corrected, they do start to take action and encourage their children to become more active, and maybe turn off the TV and go outside and play,’ she told Reuters Health.

The studies included children and teenagers aged two and upwards.

In each case, researchers asked parents to assess their child’s size using pictures, rating scales or other techniques.

Then they measured the children to determine whether they hit weight-to-height cut-offs for being overweight or obese.

Just over half of parents - 51 per cent - thought their overweight child was normal or underweight or thought their obese child was normal, underweight or just overweight.

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