Poll: Many Americans Don't See Their Kids as Overweight MONDAY,
Feb. 25 (HealthDay News) -- Many American parents fail to see
that their children are overweight or obese, a new poll finds.
Only 15 percent of parents said their children are a little or
very overweight, but national statistics suggest that 32 percent
of kids are overweight or even obese, according to the
researchers. In addition, only 20 percent of children in the
survey had a parent who was worried that his or her child will
be overweight as an adult. However, an estimated 69 percent of
American adults are overweight, including 36 percent who are
obese and 6 percent who are extremely obese. The poll results
suggest that many parents underestimate their children's current
risk for being overweight or obese, and how that risk could
continue to affect them as adults, the researchers said. The
survey, conducted by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the
Harvard School of Public Health and NPR, asked parents about
their children, ages 2 to 17. "We