NOW WHY WOULD THIS BE?

SEVENTY per cent of mothers of obese or overweight children do not consider them overweight, new research shows. The author of a study outlined in the Medical Journal of Australia published today says the findings back the view that parents see their children's health through rose-coloured glasses and inadvertently lay the foundations for future problems. The MJA editorial also comments on the issue, warning of ample evidence that consuming soft drinks is linked to the problem despite claims to the contrary by the soft drink industry.

The new research found that while 19 per cent of children were overweight or obese, only 5 per cent of mothers worried about their children's weight and 70 per cent of obese children's mothers thought their children's weight was similar to that of their peers. Researchers at Melbourne's Murdoch Children's Research Institute reached their conclusions after examining 341 four-year-olds and their mothers. Study leader Michele Campbell said nearly all mothers believed their children were as active as, or more active than, other children of the same age.

Dr Campbell said obesity among Australian children had doubled in the past 15 years. Despite "massive and sustained publicity" about this growing problem, the study showed public awareness of a problem did not necessarily translate into individual concern, and effective measures might "rely on acknowledgment of a child's weight problem as a first step for change", she said.

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Of course the mothers of fat children don't think their kids are abnormal -- because most of the mothers themselves are fat! It may be sad to say but most of the mothers these days are fat. THAT is why there is an "epidemic" of obesity. It is genetically inherited. Slim women very often think they are too good to have children, so fewer slim children are born