We’re all aware of the massive problem of childhood obesity. However, kids aren’t quite aware of its magnitude, or at least how much they actually weigh.
In a study of mostly African American adolescents, nearly 40 percent were overweight or obese, and 27 percent of them underestimated their weight.
Of the 448 5th to 8th graders, more than 62 percent of the overweight boys and about 31 percent of the overweight girls listed their weight as normal or even underweight, reports Dr. Youfa Wang and colleagues at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland. That’s an interesting comparison. Since women are generally more conscious of their weight, it goes to show that girls aren’t as misguided about the number on the scale as their male counterparts.
The researchers also found that twice as many girls as boys indicated a dissatisfaction with their weight.
Another aspect of the findings that parallel adults is the fact that those kids who were trying to lose weight were still not eating a healthier diet or increasing their physical activities. In fact, the boys who reported trying to lose weight still spent more time watching TV than those who were not trying to lose weight.
So like adults, they may be misinformed on what is a healthy food. They also don’t have the will power to get out of the house and get in some activity. But hey, these are kids we’re talking about. They need some adult guidance. We, on the other hand, have no excuse.
(via: Yahoo)