title: Children in hospital in Ireland--what do they eat and what do they weigh: a cross-sectional study.
abstract: Overweight and obesity is a growing problem in Ireland. Many parents are unaware when their child is overweight or obese. Our objectives were to examine parents' perceptions of a healthy diet and their children's BMI; and to evaluate the food offered to children in our paediatric in-patient unit.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A retrospective questionnaire was distributed to 95 patients and their families admitted over one month. Seventy-eight had BMI values calculated (42 males, 36 females). Twenty-one children (26.9%) were overweight/obese: 14/21 parents (66.7%) thought their child had a normal weight. Sixty percent of children served dinner in the hospital were given fried potatoes. Four had fruit/vegetables. Forty-six parents brought food into hospital, of these 14 brought purchased food.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study highlights the problem of child obesity in Ireland and parental underestimation of this problem. The nutritional value of food served to children in hospital needs to be improved and hospital admissions used as opportunities to promote healthy eating habits.
authors.affiliation: The Children's Ark, University Hospital, Limerick, Ireland.
authors.forename: Aisling
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Flinn
authors.forename: Alan P
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Macken
authors.forename: Walter
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Cullen
authors.forename: Des
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Leddin
authors.forename: Colum
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Dunne
authors.forename: Clodagh S
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: O'Gorman
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior; D017195:Adolescent Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D001835:Body Weight; D002648:Child; D002652:Child Behavior; D002664:Child Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004435:Eating; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005260:Female; D005638:Fruit; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006293:Health Promotion; D006801:Humans; D007297:Inpatients / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D007494:Ireland / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D018673:Nutrition Policy; D009765:Obesity / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology; D050177:Overweight / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology; D016487:Parenting; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014675:Vegetables