Education

Study Says Many Parents Don’t Know Their Preschoolers Are Overweight

June 23, 2010 1 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

Parents may not realize their preschool-aged children are overweight or even obese, if a pediatrician hasn’t told them it’s a problem, a study by the University of South Florida and Johns Hopkins University reports.

The study, published this month in the journal Clinical Pediatrics looks at 150 children aged 2 to 5, 49 of whom were overweight or obese. About 71.4 percent of parents described their overweight or obese children as being of a healthy weight. The absence of a pediatrician’s comment on the child’s weight was a strong predictor that a parent would underestimate whether the child was considered overweight or obese, according to the study abstract.

“When it comes to younger children, pediatricians tend to shy away from discussing and making recommendations about weight,” said lead author Dr. Raquel Hernandez, an assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of South Florida, in a press release from the university. “That’s unfortunate, because even a child as young as 2-years-old with a body mass index indicative of obesity is at high risk of becoming an obese adult. As much as we’d like to think that chubby, smiling toddler will outgrow the excess weight, it’s just not likely to happen with today’s overabundance of food and societal influences toward heavier size.”

A version of this news article first appeared in the Early Years blog.

Events

Jobs Virtual Career Fair for Teachers and K-12 Staff
Find teaching jobs and other jobs in K-12 education at the EdWeek Top School Jobs virtual career fair.
Ed-Tech Policy Webinar Artificial Intelligence in Practice: Building a Roadmap for AI Use in Schools
AI in education: game-changer or classroom chaos? Join our webinar & learn how to navigate this evolving tech responsibly.
Education Webinar Developing and Executing Impactful Research Campaigns to Fuel Your Ed Marketing Strategy 
Develop impactful research campaigns to fuel your marketing. Join the EdWeek Research Center for a webinar with actionable take-aways for companies who sell to K-12 districts.

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Education Briefly Stated: March 13, 2024
Here's a look at some recent Education Week articles you may have missed.
9 min read
Education Briefly Stated: February 21, 2024
Here's a look at some recent Education Week articles you may have missed.
8 min read
Education Briefly Stated: February 7, 2024
Here's a look at some recent Education Week articles you may have missed.
8 min read
Education Briefly Stated: January 31, 2024
Here's a look at some recent Education Week articles you may have missed.
9 min read