Primary care of overweight children: the importance of parent weight and attitudes about overweight: a MetroNet study.
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study was to identify the association of parents' weight and attitude about their child's weight with the child's body mass index (BMI) status.


METHODS
Cross-sectional, clinic-based study in a practice-based research network.


METHODS
One hundred seventy-one parents or adults accompanying children aged 5 to 17 years to a primary care visit in 4 family medicine centers completed a questionnaire. Parent/adult overweight status and attitudes were compared with child overweight status.


RESULTS
Forty-eight percent of children were overweight or obese (BMI >or= the 85th percentile) as were 56% of mothers and 77% of fathers (BMI >or= 25 kg/m(2)). Child and parent overweight were significantly associated, as were mother overweight and beliefs about child overweight status. Children aged 5 to 13 years were more likely to be overweight than those aged >or=14 years.


CONCLUSIONS
Parents of overweight children are often overweight and many do not recognize that their children are overweight. Suggestions are made for primary care physicians to engage parents of overweight children in family weight control efforts.
Young
Rosalie F
RF
Department of Family Medicine and Public Health Sciences, Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, Michigan 48201, USA. ryoung@med.wayne.edu
Schwartz
Kendra L
KL
Monsur
Joseph C
JC
West
Patricia
P
Neale
Anne Victoria
AV
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001294:Attitude to Health; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D050177:Overweight / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology*; D015995:Prevalence; D011320:Primary Health Care / Q000379:methods*; D012649:Self Concept; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology