Food For Thought on Obesity

Despite all the high profile press coverage of legal action against food companies, most Americans with weight problems / children with weight problems accept responsibility themselves, according to an online study conducted by Research International and Lightspeed Research. Whilst holding up their hands, however, they're often grabbing another burger.

One out of five parents admitted to having an overweight child: more than three quarters accept the blame themselves, while 10% put the blame on the school system, 5% on the government and 8% on companies that manufacture or sell food.

A minority set a good example in their own eating. Only 29% of survey respondents said they were at their ideal weight or underweight compared to nearly 71% who said they were in the range between somewhat overweight and morbidly obese. 79% of respondents said overweight individuals are responsible for what and how much they consume versus 11% putting the blame on companies that manufacture or sell food, and 10% blaming government agencies given the perceived seriousness of this health issue in the US.

The study also revealed that the majority of respondents know what and how much to eat to lose weight, know that exercise is important to weight loss, and claim financial status isn't an issue: they are simply not doing what they know they should.

Results suggest that a slight majority of parents (53%) are regularly limiting time their children spend on sedentary activities such as playing on a computer, while the other 46% do it occasionally, seldom or never. 54% of parents are encouraging their kids to exercise on a regular basis and 43% of all respondents take an active role in enrolling them in after-school activities or sports.

Most parents think the schools should be involved in educating their children about healthy eating: they want schools to prohibit foods with minimum nutritional value at school, although only 7% indicated that they are willing to take an active role in working with their PTA or school district to make that happen. Most (52%) of the parents surveyed said that they strongly agreed that school lunchrooms should provide more healthy choice, but in another illustration of double standards only 21% strongly agreed that office cafeterias should do the same.

Results are based on responses from 500 Americans aged 18+ nationwide, 50/50 male and female and with a range of income levels; and in particular on 200 of these who identified themselves as parents.

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas unless otherwise stated.

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