never accept that their children have a weight problem

Research done in Canada has identified a problem which many doctors have to face when trying to deal with childhood obesity. Many of them say that while there are plenty of opportunities for parents to get proper advice from paediatricians and qualified nutritionists in many cases the parents don't seem to show much interest in helping their children to lose weight. 

Out of 860 family doctors who were interviewed over 60 percent of them claimed that when they brought up the subject of child weight problems parents were either defensive, showed little interest or were overweight themselves which made the issue difficult to discuss.

Because of the delicate nature of obesity a great deal of sensitivity is needed when talking to parents about their children. Many parents say that they are made to feel that they are somehow to blame for the weight problem of their children when in fact they say they have little or no control over their diets.

There are many reports of parents being insulted by the attitudes of doctors who tell them that their children are fat. Telling parents that there is something wrong with their children is always a big problem and particularly sensitive parents (especially overweight ones) will never accept that their children have a weight problem despite obvious evidence to the contrary.

It takes a great deal of courage and honesty on the part of overweight parents to lead the way in getting their children to eat healthily. Getting children to change their diet means that the parents themselves will also have to avoid junk food and calorie laden meals and this is sometimes the bigger challenge.

Maybe the best way for doctors to stress the importance of being slim is to highlight research which shows that overweight and obese children are likely to be bullied, have self esteem problems and have a statistically documented lower quality of life as well as the obvious health concerns.