Family Forum / Parenting / Parenting / October 2005

Parents Blame Kids' Inactivity for Obesity

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051025/ap_on_he_me/obesity_ap_aol_poll

By LAURAN NEERGAARD, AP Medical Writer

Tue Oct 25, 4:12 AM ET

Kids don't run outside and play like they used to, and parents say
being a couch potato is a major culprit in the growing problem of
childhood obesity.

Lack of exercise edged out easy access to junk food as the main concern
of the 21 percent of parents who conceded in an AP-KOL poll that their
children are overweight. KOL is the kids' service of America Online.

Parents' big frustration is how to change sedentary habits.

"What do kids like to do other than hang out with their friends?" asks
Kim Nethery of Crestwood, Ky., who has tried fruitlessly to find a
physical activity her 15-year-old daughter will do. Even a walk is
difficult, because the family lives on a high-traffic country road
risky for pedestrians.

Parents also fret over improving children's eating habits. More than
half cited the cost of healthy food and television commercials and food
packaging as at least a minor problem, according to the poll conducted
by Ipsos for The Associated Press and KOL. Another issue: food served
in school cafeterias.

Her son's middle school lets him order lunch a la carte, complained
Margaret Gunderson of Loveland, Colo.

"They're ordering pizza, ice cream. They blow through their lunch money
by Tuesday," she said.

The government counts 9 million children ages 6 to 16 who are
overweight, at increased risk for diabetes and other health problems,
not to mention being teased by peers or left out of fun activities.
Overweight children usually grow into overweight adults.

In the survey, children whose parents earned less than $50,000 a year
were a little more likely to be overweight than those from more
affluent families.

Children are supposed to get at least an hour of vigorous activity a
day. But research shows far too few get anywhere close.

More than half the parents surveyed said their children had expressed a
desire to exercise more, and 30 percent said their child wanted to lose
weight.

Jeff Chabot, an engineer from Rutland, Vt., said he encourages his
children to participate in outdoor activities like snowmobiling and
skiing.

Chabot said his older son is a little heavy. "Junk food is a big
temptation," he said. "There's a temptation to park himself on the
couch and eat after school."

Between heavy traffic that hinders bike-riding and easy access to video
games, "children's forms of entertainment are much less active than the
entertainment we had growing up," said teacher Dierde Karcher of
Montclair, N.J.

Reducing time spent in front of television and computers has been
proven to slow children's weight gain.

"We as parents need to do more," said Elena Penson, a sales clerk from
Lufkin, Texas, whose family makes a point of going to a park twice a
week to play catch. "But when we get home, we're tired, too. We've
gotten lazy."

Inactive parents teach their children by example to be sedentary,
warned American Heart Association president Dr. Robert H. Eckel, who
researches obesity at the University of Colorado.

Getting active doesn't have to mean joining a ball team. "One of the
strongest correlates of how overall active a child is, is how much time
they spend outdoors," said Dr. Nancy Krebs, who co-chairs an American
Academy of Pediatrics' obesity panel. "Nature takes over from there."

Parents who earned less than $25,000 a year were more likely than those
with higher incomes to cite the cost of healthy food as a problem in
improving their children's eating habits. Almost four in 10 parents in
rural areas noted that problem, too, more than suburban parents.

Moms were nearly twice as likely as dads to cite as factors healthy
food prices, TV commercials and junk-food packaging aimed at children,
and unhealthy school food.

And 49 percent of parents said the lack of time for home-cooked meals
was a problem. Restaurant meals tend to have more calories and fewer
fruits and vegetables.

"By the time we get off from work, it's more convenient to stop at a
restaurant than get a home-cooked meal," said nurse Susan Henderson of
Yucaipa, Calif.

Almost a quarter of parents who thought their children were overweight
blamed easy access to junk food.

"I try to keep my daughter on her recommended diet, make sure she gets
an appropriate amount of vegetables and very little meat," said Darrell
Scott of Oklahoma City. "But it's a battle."

The AP-KOL poll of 961 parents of children between ages 6-17 was
conducted from Oct. 5-23 and has a margin of sampling error of plus or
minus 3 percentage points.
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On the Net:

Ipsos: http://www.ap-ipsosresults.com