Health Barometer
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By Bruce Hayes, General Manager, Health, Edelman
When it comes to ensuring healthy choices for children, parents feel justifiably beleaguered. With little time to cook, the ubiquity of fast food restaurants and snacks, and cutbacks in physical education, it’s easy to understand why childhood obesity is increasing dramatically around the world. In the US alone, the prevalence of obesity in children ages 5 to 18 has tripled over the last 20 years, to almost 20%, and a third of kids are classified as overweight.
Parents might best address their children’s health by addressing their own. A recent study in the Archives of Surgery found that gastric bypass surgery, an effective treatment for morbid obesity, can also create a “halo effect” in the family. Researchers at Stanford University found that one year after a patient underwent gastric bypass surgery, children and adult family members also reported losing weight.
The Stanford study reinforces a key finding of the global Edelman Health Barometer (EHB) 2011: Nearly half (43%) of the 15,000 respondents around the world said family and friends have the greatest impact on their lifestyle as it relates to health, and 36%named family and friends as having the most impact on their nutrition. The EHB shines a spotlight on the critical role that social supports play in changing unhealthy behaviors, and when it comes to families, parents are the critical social support.
Nearly four out of five (79%) respondents to the EHB believe parents, more than anyone else, should be addressing childhood obesity. Clearly, however, parents need help. Researchers have reported over and over that the daily caloric intake for children has increased dramatically in the last few decades, despite numerous educational campaigns to address children’s eating habits. A 2010 study, for example, revealed that between 1977 and 2006 children increased their caloric intake from snacks alone by an average of 168 calories per day, and as high as 586 calories a day.
As a starting point for addressing the childhood obesity crisis, parents must start by accurately assessing the weight and eating habits of their own children – and themselves. In answering the EHB, obese adults in almost every country routinely underestimated their weight. In much the same way, a 2010 U.S. survey of parents of obese children found that only half recognized that their child was overweight, while a 2006 Canadian survey revealed that just 9% of parents considered their child overweight, even though 26% of Canadian kids have a body mass index (BMI) that is too high for the age and height.
Just as parents need to be realistic about the lifestyles and weight of their children, they must acknowledge that their own eating and exercise habits are critical models for their children. The EHB points the way forward – if families come together to address poor health habits, they have a better chance at succeeding, together. Companies, health institutions, schools and governments should make the family the center of campaigns to address childhood obesity as well. As the EHB reveals, the best way to change unhealthy habits is through social supports, both within, and for, the family.
