School Obesity Programs May Promote Worrisome Eating Behaviors and Physical
Activity in Kids

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NNARBOR, Mich., Jan. 24, 2012 -- In a new poll, 30% of parents report at least
one worrisome behavior in their children that could be associated with the
development of eating disorders

ANNARBOR, Mich., Jan. 24, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A new report from the
C.S. Mott Children's Hospital National Poll on Children's Health examines the
possible association between school-based childhood obesity prevention programs
and an increase in eating disorders among young children and adolescents.

The Poll asked parents about obesity prevention programs in their children's
schools and about food-related behaviors and activity that may be
worrisome.Overall, 82 percent of parents of children age 6-14 report at least
one school-based childhood obesity intervention program taking place in their
child's school. Among these programs are nutrition education, limits on sweets
or "junk food" in the classroom, height and weight measurements, and incentives
for physical activity.Additionally, 7 percent of parents report that their
children have been made to feel bad at school about what or how much they were
eating.

This same group of parents was also asked about their children's eating
behaviors.

Thirty percent of parents of 6-14 year-olds report least one behavior in their
children that could be associated with the development of an eating disorder.
These behaviors include inappropriate dieting, excessive worry about fat in
foods, being preoccupied with food content or labels, refusing family meals, and
having too much physical activity.

"The issue of childhood obesity is a serious problem. In order to intervene in
what seems like an epidemic of childhood obesity, everyone needs to be
involved," says David Rosen, M.D., M.P.H., Clinical Professor of Pediatrics,
Internal Medicine, and Psychiatry at the University of Michigan Medical School
and Chief of Teenage and Young Adult Medicine in the Department of Pediatrics.

However, Rosen says, "When obesity interventions are put in place without
understanding how they work and what the risks are, there can be unintended
consequences. Well-intentioned efforts can go awry when children misinterpret
the information they're given.

"Many of these behaviors are often dismissed as a phase," says Rosen, "But given
what we know about the association of these behaviors with the development of
eating disorders and knowing that eating disorders are increasing in prevalence,
they should be taken very seriously."Parents that report incentive programs at
their children's school to increase physical activity are more likely to say
their children are "too physically active" (11%) compared with parents who do
not report incentives for physical activity at their child's school (4%).
Otherwise, the poll did not find an association between school-based obesity
prevention programs and other worrisome eating behaviors among children.

The fact that 30% of parents report at least one worrisome eating behavior in
their children is concerning."It's much better and safer for parents to respond
to worrisome eating behaviors early – even if there turns out to be no problem
– than to wait until there is obviously a big problem,' Rosen says. "It is
much easier to prevent an eating disorder than it is to treat an eating
disorder."Rosen offers these suggestions for parents:

Be attentive to your children's eating habits. If you see behaviors that are
worrisome to you, talk to your children about them. If the behaviors escalate,
involve your child's doctor.
Find out what your children's schools are doing to prevent childhood
obesity. Be involved and engaged in that process.
Ask your children if they're being teased at school about their food choices
or their weight. If they are, go to the school and find out what is happening.

Full report: http://www.med.umich.edu/mott/npch/pdf/012412eatingbehaviors.pdf

C.S. Mott Children's Hospital National Poll on Children's Health: Website:
www.med.umich.edu/mott/npch Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/mottnpch Twitter:
@MottNPCH

Additional resources
include:http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/eating-disorders/index.shtml
http://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/index.php http://www.anad.org/

Purpose/Funding: The C.S. Mott Children's Hospital National Poll on Children's
Health – based at the Child Health Evaluation and Research Unit at the
University of Michigan and funded by the Department of Pediatrics and
Communicable Diseases and the University of Michigan Health System – is
designed to measure major health care issues and trends for U.S. children.

Data Source: This report presents findings from a nationally representative
household survey conducted exclusively by Knowledge Networks, Inc. (KN), for
C.S. Mott Children's Hospital via a method used in many published studies. The
survey was administered in September 2011 to a randomly selected, stratified
group of parents age 18 or older with a child age 6 to 14 (n=976), from the KN
standing panel that closely resembles the U.S. population. The sample was
subsequently weighted to reflect population figures from the Census Bureau. The
survey completion rate was 58 percent among panel members contacted to
participate. The margin of error is +/- 1 to 5 percentage points.

To learn more about Knowledge Networks, visit www.knowledgenetworks.com.

Findings from the U-M C.S. Mott Children's Hospital National Poll on Children's
Health do not represent the opinions of the investigators or the opinions of the
University of Michigan.

SOURCE C.S. Mott Children's Hospital National Poll on Children's Health

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