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Parents unable to recognise when children are obese

The rapid increase in childhood diabetes is the result of parents rewarding their children with junk food, according to a new report.

The University of Sydney study found 20 per cent of children are overweight of obese by the time the start kindergarten.

Public health experts say the obesity problem in the home extends beyond what parents are feeding their children, but also in their attitude, with most parents unable to recognise when their child is overweight.

Researchers studied more than 500 children and found that the home environment is overwhelmingly to blame for children’s weight.

Changes to the traditional family behaviour is also impacting the weight of our children, with 30 per cent of those studied saying they have a television in their room, and almost 50 per cent eating dinner in front of the box more than three times per week.

The researchers found that overweight boys were more likely to eat dinner in front of the television and watch it for too long, while overweight girls were more likely to have a television in their bedrooms and be rewarded with sweet treats.

Leader of the study, Dr Louise Hardy, from the university’s school of public health, said children’s exposure to television before they were five was ''horrifying.''

''Perhaps parents are upgrading their TV and don't want to toss out the old ones, so they're ending up in kids' bedrooms,'' she said.

''Kids are also being rewarded for good behaviour with sweet food. They are drinking sugar in soft drinks and fruit juices and once these negative health behaviours are established, they're very difficult to change.

''It may sound draconian, but why are we rewarding children for good behaviour at all?''

The study found more than 60 per cent of children, both healthy and overweight, were rewarded for good behaviour with treats.

More than one-fifth of the overweight and obese children studied did not eat breakfast.

Hardy said parents need to recognise that by rewarding their children with sweets, they are being introduced to bad habits very young.

She also called on parents to have a more realistic perception of their children’s health and weight.

''We asked parents whether they perceived their child to be overweight, healthy or underweight and found 70 per cent of parents of overweight kindergarten children thought their kid was the right weight,'' she said.

''And 30 per cent of the parents of obese children thought their child was the right weight.”

Hardy said health policy makers continue to be accused of creating a “Nanny state.”

''It's a very difficult situation, but this is happening before children enter school and we need to get the message across while also not offending parents,'' she said.

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