PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Gap between parental perceptions of child's weight and official classifications

2015-03-30
(Press-News.org) Parents of obese children may not be able to recognise that their child is overweight unless they are at very extreme levels of obesity, according to research led by London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and UCL Institute of Child Health, research partner of Great Ormond Street Hospital.

The work, which is published in the British Journal of General Practice, finds that parents are additionally more likely to underestimate their child's weight if they are Black or south Asian (v white), from more deprived backgrounds or if their offspring is male. The identification of gaps between parental perceptions and official guidelines, and variations seen in different demographics of the population, may help us evaluate how effective public health interventions for obesity in children are going to be in different groups of the population.

Childhood obesity has increased in the UK in recent decades and with obese children being at greater risk of premature mortality and disease in adulthood, interventions to tackle obesity have been put in place by the government. But, research has suggested that many parents can't identify when their child is overweight leading to questions about the effectiveness of current public health interventions which aim to address obesity in the home.

The research team set out to look at the scale of this problem further and identify socioeconomic factors that may predict parental under or overestimation of their child's weight. Questionnaire responses were collected from parents of 2976 children in five primary care trusts taking part in the National Child Measurement Programme (NCMP) ; Redbridge, Islington, West Essex, Bath and North East Somerset and Sandwell.

The researchers discovered that 31% of parents (915) underestimated where their child's BMI sat on government obesity scales - which classify children as very overweight (or obese), overweight, healthy weight, or underweight. Highlighting this discrepancy, they found that only four parents described their child as being very overweight despite 369 children being officially identified as very overweight according to the BMI cut-off. According to official guidelines, children are classified as overweight at the 85th centile and very overweight (or obese) at the 95th centile. The team estimated that for a child with a BMI at the 98th centile there was an 80% chance that the parent would classify their child as healthy weight but recognised that parents became more likely to classify their child as overweight when the child had a BMI above the 99.7th centile.

Senior author Dr Sanjay Kinra, Reader in Clinical Epidemiology at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and co-lead investigator of the PROMISE trial, said: "If parents are unable to accurately classify their own child's weight, they may not be willing or motivated to enact the changes to the child's environment that promote healthy weight maintenance."

Co-author Professor Russell Viner, academic paediatrician at the UCL institute of Child Health and PROMISE co-lead investigator said: "Measures that decrease the gap between parental perceptions of child weight status and obesity scales used by medical professionals may now be needed in order to help parents better understand the health risks associated with overweight and increase uptake of healthier lifestyles."

INFORMATION:

The study was funded by the National Institute for Health Research and forms part of the PROMISE study, a five part* project led by UCL Institute of Child Health and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine that aims to improve the assessment and treatment of childhood obesity through research.

Publication: Black et al, Child obesity cut-offs as derived from parental perceptions: cross-sectional questionnaire, Br J Gen Pract 2015; DOI: 10.3399/bjgp15X684385

Notes to Editors:

*PROMISE (Paediatric Research In Obesity Multi-Modal Intervention And Service Evaluation consists of five studies :- Study A: Impact of the National Child Measurement Programme (NCMP)
Lead: London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine
Study B: Improving childhood obesity management
Lead: London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine
Study C: Healthy Eating and Lifestyle programme (HELP)
Lead: UCL ICH
Study D: Effectiveness of anti-obesity drug
Lead: UCL
Study E: Evaluation of an adolescent bariatric surgery programme
Lead: UCLH

Media contacts

To request an interview with Dr Sanjay Kinra please contact the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine press office on 020 7927 2802 or email press@lshtm.ac.uk

To request an interview with Professor Russell Viner, please contact Rachel Twinn in the Great Ormond Street Hospital press office on 020 7239 3039 or rachel.twinn@gosh.org



ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Rats, reasoning, and rehabilitation: Neuroscientists are uncovering how we reason

2015-03-29
March 29, 2015 - San Francisco - Even rats can imagine: A new study finds that rats have the ability to link cause and effect such that they can expect, or imagine, something happening even if it isn't. The findings are important to understanding human reasoning, especially in older adults, as aging degrades the ability to maintain information about unobserved events. "What sets humans apart from the rest of the animal kingdom is our prodigious ability to reason. But what about human reasoning is truly a human-unique feature and what aspects are shared with our nonhuman ...

What happened to lunch? New study shows skipping lunch common in children

2015-03-29
BOSTON, MA (March 29, 2015) - According to new analysis of data from the 2009-2012 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) that evaluated eating patterns of 3,647 children ages 4-13 years, skipping lunch is a common practice among children and adolescents, with 13% of younger children and 17% of 9-13 year olds skipping lunch on a given day. The study found that the behavior persisted throughout the week with nearly a quarter (approximately 23%) of 9-13 year olds skipping lunch on the weekends. These findings, part of Nestlé's new Kids Nutrition & ...

Prevention of costly hip fractures should be a priority in UK

2015-03-29
A new study presented today at the World Congress on Osteoporosis, Osteoarthritis and Musculoskeletal Diseases reveals the high cost of first and subsequent hip fractures to the healthcare system in the UK. Researchers from the University of Oxford and the MRC Lifecourse Epidemiology Unit in Southampton estimated UK hospital costs of hip fracture in the two years following the fracture, and compared average hospital costs before and after hip fracture. Their study analyzed data from 33152 hip fracture patients (average age 83 years), 75% of which were women. The study ...

Hip fracture patients in long-term care are less likely to receive osteoporosis therapy

2015-03-28
Milan, Italy - March 28, 2015 Hip fractures, which primarily affect the elderly, are among the most debilitating and life-threatening of osteoporotic fractures: many hip fracture patients never regain their previous level of function and as a result require long-term care. Without osteoporosis therapy the risk of further, potentially more devastating hip fractures is high. In a study presented at the World Congress on Osteoporosis, Osteoarthritis and Musculoskeletal Diseases, researchers in Ontario, Canada calculated the proportion of high-risk residents of long-term ...

For type V AC joint injuries, early surgery may not be the best approach

2015-03-28
Las Vegas, NV - Early surgery may not be the best treatment option for patients with Type V AC joint injuries, according to new research from Tripler Army Medical Center. The study, presented today at the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine's (AOSSM) Specialty Day, showed military personnel returned to duty faster when surgery was not performed. The final study group focused on 24 patients, with 7 receiving surgical treatment and 17 receiving non-surgical therapy. Of the non-surgery group, 8 patients (53%) returned to active duty an average of 90.3 days without ...

No need to delay rotator cuff surgery, study shows

2015-03-28
Las Vegas, NV - Delaying rotator cuff surgery on patients with shoulder stiffness may not be necessary, according to research presented today at the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine's (AOSSM) Specialty Day. "Our study compared results for 170 patients who received rotator cuff surgery with 25 who underwent an additional glenohumeral joint capsule release procedure to relieve stiffness at the time of surgery," commented Jordan McGrath, lead author from St. George Hospital in Sydney, Australia. "Both groups reported significant improvements in range of ...

Pain injections for hip arthroscopy patients may not predict surgical outcomes

2015-03-28
Las Vegas, NV - How best to treat and recover from complicated hip injuries is a growing field in orthopaedic medicine. While diagnostic hip injections are commonly performed for patients with labral tear to confirm the pain etiology, research presented today at the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine's (AOSSM) Specialty Day suggests that pain relief from this diagnostic injection may not predict better outcomes following arthroscopic hip surgery. "Our study looked to assess if the amount of pain relief from a preoperative diagnostic intra-articular (IA) ...

New way to evaluate meniscus tear outcomes

2015-03-28
Las Vegas, NV - An individual's meniscus (cushion in the knee) is one of the most important ligaments in the leg providing stability, load bearing and preservation of the knee joint. It is also one of the most easily injured areas and difficult to fully heal. Researchers presenting their study at today's Specialty Day meeting of the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine (AOSSM) utilized MRI data to determine the potential for biologic healing following a meniscus tear. "Little is currently understood about the healing of meniscus tears when a root repair is ...

Young athletes at greater risk for re-injury after ACL Surgery

2015-03-28
Las Vegas, NV - One in three young athletes who undergo ACL surgery experiences re-injury, according to research presented today at the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine's (AOSSM) Specialty Day. The study examined the long term success of surgery for patients aged 18 years and younger. "We examined survey data from 242 patients who underwent ACL reconstruction between 1993 and 1998," noted lead author Justin P. Roe, MBBS, FRACS, from North Sydney Orthopaedic and Sports Medicine Centre. "Of this group, 75, or 31% sustained a further injury after at least ...

Researchers highlight shoulder and elbow injury possibility in youth players

2015-03-28
Las Vegas, NV - Pitching speed, player's height, and pitching for multiple teams may correlate with a history of shoulder and elbow injuries, according to new research released today at the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine's (AOSSM) Specialty Day. "Our findings indicate that a 10 inch increase in height is associated with a 20% increase in likelihood of a history of injury, a 10 mile per hour increase in velocity is associated with a 12% increase likelihood of a history of injury, and playing for more than one team is associated with a 22% increase in ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Thirty-year mystery of dissonance in the “ringing” of black holes explained

Less intensive works best for agricultural soil

Arctic rivers project receives “national champion” designation from frontiers foundation

Computational biology paves the way for new ALS tests

Study offers new hope for babies born with opioid withdrawal syndrome

UT, Volkswagen Group of America celebrate research partnership

New Medicare program could dramatically improve affordability for cancer drugs – if patients enroll

Are ‘zombie’ skin cells harmful or helpful? The answer may be in their shapes

University of Cincinnati Cancer Center presents research at AACR 2025

Head and neck, breast, lung and survivorship studies headline Dana-Farber research at AACR Annual Meeting 2025

AACR: Researchers share promising results from MD Anderson clinical trials

New research explains why our waistlines expand in middle age

Advancements in muon detection: Taishan Antineutrino Observatory's innovative top veto tracker

Chips off the old block

Microvascular decompression combined with nerve combing for atypical trigeminal neuralgia

Cutting the complexity from digital carpentry

Lung immune cell type “quietly” controls inflammation in COVID-19

Fiscal impact of expanded Medicare coverage for GLP-1 receptor agonists to treat obesity

State and sociodemographic trends in US cigarette smoking with future projections

Young adults drive historic decline in smoking

NFCR congratulates Dr. Robert C. Bast, Jr. on receiving the AACR-Daniel D. Von Hoff Award for Outstanding Contributions to Education and Training in Cancer Research

Chimpanzee stem cells offer new insights into early embryonic development

This injected protein-like polymer helps tissues heal after a heart attack

FlexTech inaugural issue launches, pioneering interdisciplinary innovation in flexible technology

In Down syndrome mice, 40Hz light and sound improve cognition, neurogenesis, connectivity

Methyl eugenol: potential to inhibit oxidative stress, address related diseases, and its toxicological effects

A vascularized multilayer chip reveals shear stress-induced angiogenesis in diverse fluid conditions

AI helps unravel a cause of Alzheimer's disease and identify a therapeutic candidate

Coalition of Autism Scientists critiques US Department of Health and Human Services Autism Research Initiative

Structure dictates effectiveness, safety in nanomedicine

[Press-News.org] Gap between parental perceptions of child's weight and official classifications