title: Parents often do not recognize overweight in their child, regardless of their socio-demographic background.
abstract: To involve parents successfully in the treatment of overweight in their child, they first need to be aware of the problem and its accompanying health risks. Data on 1840 9-11 year olds from the Rotterdam Youth Health Monitor were analysed to investigate whether awareness of parents differs according to socio-demographic characteristics. In the case of overweight children, 50% of the parents do not recognize that their child is overweight. Except for age none of the investigated socio-demographic characteristics, including ethnicity and parental education, was associated with awareness. Parents of obese children show greater awareness than parents of overweight children.
authors.affiliation: Municipal Health Service for Rotterdam Area, Rotterdam, The Netherlands. jansenw@ggd.rotterdam.nl
authors.forename: Wilma
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Jansen
authors.forename: Johannes
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Brug
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D001294:Attitude to Health; D001364:Awareness; D002648:Child; D003717:Denial, Psychological; D004522:Educational Status; D004651:Employment / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005191:Family Characteristics; D005260:Female; D006266:Health Education; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009426:Netherlands / Q000453:epidemiology; D009765:Obesity / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology; D050177:Overweight; D010290:Parents / Q000193:education / Q000523:psychology*; D011936:Reality Testing; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires