Morbid Obesity Information

• The majority of parents in the U.S. (78 percent) believe that physical education or recess should not be reduced or replaced with academic classes.

• Almost 30 percent of parents said that they are "somewhat" or "very" concerned about their children's weight.

• 12 percent of parents considered their child overweight.

• Comparing their own childhood health habits to their children's, 27 percent of parents said their children eat less nutritiously, and 24 percent said their children are less physically active.

• 35 percent of parents rated their children's school programs for teaching good patterns of eating and physical activity to prevent obesity as "poor," "non-existent," or "don't know."

• Among six choices of what they believed to be the greatest risk to their children's long-term health and quality of life, 5.6 percent of parents chose "being overweight or obese." More parents selected other choices as the greatest risk: alcohol (6.1 percent), sexually transmitted disease (10 percent), smoking (13.3 percent), violence (20.3 percent), and illegal drugs (24 percent).

• In terms of their own behavior, 61 percent of parents said that it would be either "not very difficult" or "not at all difficult" to change their eating and/or physical activity patterns if it would help prevent obesity in any of their children.

Create an Active Environment:

• Make time for the entire family to participate in regular physical activities that everyone enjoys. Try walking, bicycling or rollerblading.

• Plan special active family-outings such as a hiking or ski trip.

• Start an active neighborhood program. Join together with other families for group activities like touch-football, basketball, tag or hide-and-seek.

• Assign active chores to every family member such as vacuuming, washing the car or mowing the lawn. Rotate the schedule of chores to avoid boredom from routine.

• Enroll your child in a structured activity that he or she enjoys, such as tennis, gymnastics, martial arts, etc.

• Instill an interest in your child to try a new sport by joining a team at school or in your community.

• Limit the amount of TV watching.

Create a Healthy Eating Environment:

• Implement the same healthy diet (rich in fruits, vegetables and grains) for your entire family, not just for select individuals.

• Plan times when you prepare foods together. Children enjoy participating and can learn about healthy cooking and food preparation.

• Eat meals together at the dinner table at regular times.

• Avoid rushing to finish meals. Eating too quickly does not allow enough time to digest and to feel a sense of fullness.

• Avoid other activities during mealtimes such as watching TV.

• Avoid foods that are high in calories, fat or sugar.

• Have snack foods available that are low-calorie and nutritious. Fruit, vegetables and yogurt are some examples.

• Avoid serving portions that are too large.

• Avoid forcing your child to eat if he/she is not hungry. If your child shows atypical signs of not eating, consult a healthcare professional.

• Limit the frequency of fast-food eating to no more than once per week.

• Avoid using food as a reward or the lack of food as punishment.

Health Risks, Diagnosis and Treatment

Determining if a child or adolescent has a weight problem can be challenging. How do you know if the excess weight your child has is part of the natural growth process, and will your child just "grow out of?" How do you know if your child's weight may be negatively affecting his or her health?