Parents not helpful at encouraging overweight children to eat a healthy diet

Study authors also found that parents who encouraged their teens to diet increased their teen’s risk of remaining overweight five years later

(June 2, 2008) — Parents who accurately perceived their teens as overweight were still unlikely to help them engage in healthy eating and exercise behaviors. In fact, many of these parents encouraged dieting, which predicted poorer weight outcomes for their teen five years later. That's according to a study by researchers at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health.

Project Eating Among Teens (EAT) researchers found that overweight teens, especially girls, who were encouraged by their parents to diet for weight control were more likely to remain overweight five years later, compared with their peers whose parents did not encourage dieting. More than 66 percent of the teen girls whose parents encouraged them to diet remained overweight five years later, compared with only 43 percent of teen girls who were not encouraged to diet. For teen boys, a similar trend was found, although it was not as statistically significant. However, 74 percent of teen boys who had parental encouragement to diet remained overweight five years later compared with 51 percent of teen boys who did not.

Dianne Neumark-Sztainer, lead author of the study and principal investigator for Project EAT said, “Our findings suggest that less emphasis should be placed on informing parents that their children are overweight, and more emphasis should be placed on providing parents with the information, tools, and support to help their children make healthier eating and physical activity choices.” This is the focus of her book, I’m, Like So Fat! Helping your teen make healthy choices about eating and exercise in a weight-obsessed world.

The study, “Accurate Parental Classification of Overweight Adolescents’ Weight Status: Does it Matter?” will appear in the June issue of Pediatrics and online on June 2.

The Project EAT study was supported by a grant from the Maternal and Child Health Bureau, Health Resources and Services Administration, Department of Health and Human Services.