Parents digesting the message on childhood obesity

Parents are becoming more conscious of childhood obesity with research highlighting several stark realities including the increased likelihood of small children being overweight in later years if early eating habits are not controlled.

Now approaching its second of a three year campaign, Safefood believes this is just one of the issues surrounding obesity that needs to be tackled, where a propensity to blame grandparents for giving treats or bad weather for a lack of exercise are also commonly found.

Speaking at the 2014 Summer Scientific Meeting at the Royal College of Physicians in Dublin today Dr Marian Faughnan, chief specialist in nutrition at Safefood said the message appeared to be working with further research to follow.

“Obesity in children does track through to adulthood. If we take an eight-year-old boy he has a one-in-five chance of becoming an obese adult,” she said.

“If he continues to carry that excess weight, at 13 years of age he has a one-in-two chance of becoming an obese adult.”

The campaign, in conjunction with the HSE and Healthy Ireland, conducted 18 focus groups last year and face-to-face interviews with over 900 parents to garner benchmark attitudes that will be repeated and compared later this year.

That initial research showed the adult perceptions of their own children’s weight delivered a “wakeup call” with 54 per cent of parents of overweight children believing their weight was ok.

“Parents were telling us: we know this is a big issue. But they weren’t really engaged with it because they didn’t really see any practical solutions,” said Dr Faughnan, emphasising the message needed to be focused on small steps.

Portion sizes are also of concern. In one case, a three year old boy was found to have a typical breakfast of two bowls of Cheerios, an apple and orange, two Petit Filous and three slices of toast with jam.

The six key messages of the Safefood campaign have been identified as limiting portions and treats, increasing activity, getting sufficient sleep, monitoring screen time and consuming less sugary drinks, all of which will or have been disseminated through conventional and social media.

A follow-up sample of 400 parents conducted last December showed the message appears to be getting through.

It found 77 per cent said the facts were relevant, 82 per cent that it had motivated them to think about the food they give their children and 89 per cent that it had made them think about the potential impact in future years.

Research and awareness-raising will continue this year with the focus shifting to treats in the home and next year to sleep and screen time.